President Yoweri Museveni has revealed that he held discussions with Nigerian billionaire industrialist Aliko Dangote over a proposed East African regional oil refinery project aimed at boosting value addition and regional economic integration.

The meeting took place at Nakasero in Kampala, where the two leaders discussed the future of oil refining in East Africa and the importance of African countries processing their own natural resources instead of exporting raw materials.

In a statement shared after the meeting, Museveni reiterated Uganda’s long-standing position against exporting crude oil without local refining and industrial processing.

“From the very beginning, we have always opposed the export of raw materials without value addition,” Museveni said.

The President explained that Uganda deliberately delayed its commercial oil production plans because the government insisted on establishing a refinery before fully exporting crude oil.

According to Museveni, exporting crude oil without refining it locally would deny Uganda and the region major economic and strategic benefits associated with finished petroleum products.

“That is why Uganda delayed oil production because we insisted on first having a refinery. Without refining our oil, it would not make economic or strategic sense to simply export crude oil while others benefit from the finished products,” he said.

Museveni welcomed the idea of a larger regional refinery involving East African countries, saying such a project would strengthen African integration and create stronger regional markets capable of supporting large-scale industrial investments.

“I therefore welcomed the idea of a bigger regional refinery because our objective is African integration and shared prosperity. We cannot continue operating as fragmented and weak markets,” Museveni added.

The discussions come amid growing regional conversations about establishing a refinery capable of serving multiple East African countries, including Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Dangote, Africa’s richest businessman and founder of the Dangote Group, recently launched the massive Dangote Refinery in Nigeria, which has become Africa’s largest oil refinery with a refining capacity of about 650,000 barrels per day.

Reports in recent months have indicated increasing interest in replicating similar refinery projects in East Africa to reduce dependence on imported fuel products and strengthen regional energy security.

Despite supporting the proposed regional refinery initiative, Museveni emphasized that Uganda will continue pursuing the development of its own refinery project in Hoima.

“Uganda is ready to support the regional refinery initiative while also continuing with the development of our own refinery in Hoima,” the President said.

Uganda’s oil sector remains one of the country’s most strategic economic projects, with commercial oil production expected to play a significant role in industrialization, infrastructure development and job creation over the coming years.

The Hoima refinery project has long been viewed by the Ugandan government as a key component in ensuring value addition, energy security and reduced fuel import dependency.