Oil Refining Megacomplex in Kenya Sparks Protests in UNESCO-Protected Region
Kenya is building an oil refining and chemicals megacomplex in a region protected by UNESCO. It is the country's largest investment project, and it has drawn protests and mixed assessments.
Construction of an oil refining and chemicals megacomplex is under way in Kenya, in East Africa, in a region protected by UNESCO, the United Nations educational, scientific and cultural organisation. It is the largest investment project in Kenya, and it has provoked both protests and conflicting assessments. The headline links it to an African billionaire's venture and raises the risk that UNESCO-listed heritage could be endangered.
Industrialisation and its cost
In recent years Africa has set out on a path of industrialisation. As elsewhere in the world, economic ambitions are colliding with environmental protection and the local way of life. The Kenyan project shows this tension clearly, because the construction is taking place in an internationally protected area.
The information available gives no further details on the project's scale, cost or construction timetable. The exact location and the arguments of supporters and opponents are likewise not described in detail at this point.
