Africa's richest man and President of Dangote Industries Limited, Aliko Dangote, says he is prepared to confront legal challenges to his businesses, while also expressing willingness to reduce his ownership of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery to 25 per cent as more Africans buy into the company.

The comments come after the Dangote Group said a Kenyan court ruling over a land rights dispute would not stop the groundbreaking ceremony for its planned 700,000-barrel-per-day refinery in Lamu on Wednesday, though the order could affect some activities at the project site.

Speaking during a fireside chat at the Nairobi Securities Exchange in Kenya, Dangote discussed the company's planned investments across Africa, the Lamu refinery project, and its proposed public ownership structure in Kenya and other African countries.

The Malindi Environment and Land Court had ordered that the "status quo prevailing" on the land be maintained until a hearing scheduled for October 14.

The order, dated September 25, was made public on Monday. According to Reuters, the lawsuit was filed by 133 residents of Chandavai in Lamu County, who claim the land earmarked for the refinery is their ancestral heritage, with families having lived and farmed there for generations.

In a statement, the Dangote Group clarified: "The court has not halted the groundbreaking ceremony of the refinery at this stage. However, activities at the site may be affected by the ruling as both parties are required not to carry out activities until the case is heard on 14th October."

Addressing investors directly, Dangote expressed confidence that the project would move forward despite the legal hurdle.

"I'm sure some of you must have seen that one court has given an order that we shouldn't do any construction? I said no, no. This is normal for us in Africa. In fact, this is even small," he said.

He went further, suggesting he was aware of who was behind the legal pushback. "Anyone who wants to cause trouble, we are ready for them," he declared.

Dangote cited a past dispute in Senegal as evidence of his group's resilience, recalling a case where one of its factories was shut down for a year before the matter was resolved at the Supreme Court level.

"In Senegal, it's not even the court. They stopped our factory for one year. We went up to the Supreme Court to get a judgement. So anybody who wants to cause trouble, we are ready for them," he said.

The planned Lamu refinery, expected to have a capacity of 700,000 barrels per day, is intended to replicate the Dangote refinery in Nigeria. Dangote has said the Kenyan facility will cost between $15 billion and $16 billion and is expected to be completed by 2030.

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