Richard Tanui

[Mohammed Hersi : Mr Optimist @mohammedhersi]

1/2 Lamu's Refinery Is Not Tourism's Enemy. It Is Tourism's Biggest Opportunity in a Generation.

Tomorrow, His Excellency President William Samoei Ruto @WilliamsRuto and Alhaji Aliko Dangote Dangote @AlikoDangote Industries will break ground on the Dangote East Africa Refinery in Lamu. Before the ribbon is even cut, a familiar chorus has already begun: the refinery will kill Lamu tourism, smoke will choke the dhows, and the tourists will flee.

I have spent more than 30 years in this industry. I have watched Kenyan tourism survive terror alerts, travel advisories, pandemics and politics. Let me say this plainly: this refinery is not a threat to tourism in Lamu. It is the single greatest opportunity our coastal hospitality sector has been handed in a generation.

✅️First, understand the size of Lamu
Lamu County covers more than 6,000 square kilometres. That is nearly a quarter of the entire Republic of Rwanda, and more than eight times the size of Singapore. Singapore fits a global financial centre, one of the world's busiest ports, heavy petrochemical industry on Jurong Island and a world-class tourism economy into a fraction of Lamu's land mass. Nobody cancels a holiday to Sentosa because there is a refinery down the coast.

The refinery sits on the mainland, near the new port at Kililana. Lamu Old Town, Shela, Manda and the archipelago that the world loves remain exactly what they are: a UNESCO World Heritage Site and some of the most beautiful island coastline on the Indian Ocean. Industry and heritage can coexist when there is space and planning. Lamu has both.

✅️Second, follow the money into the hotels
This is a $16 billion project, over Ksh 2 trillion, expected to take about three years to build and to create some 60,000 jobs. Think about what that means for anyone who owns a bed in Lamu, Malindi or Watamu.

Engineers, project managers, financiers, consultants, contractors, auditors, insurers, government delegations and regional investors will be travelling to Lamu every week for years. They need rooms. They need restaurants. They need transfers, boats, laundry, meeting rooms and weekend escapes. This is corporate business, and corporate business is the most reliable income a hotelier can have. It fills rooms on a wet Tuesday in May, not just on a sunny Saturday in December.

For years, Lamu hoteliers have lived and died by the leisure season. Corporate demand will flatten that seasonality. Occupancy in the low months, the very months that bleed our properties, will rise.

✅️Third, MICE is coming, Where industry goes, meetings follow. Suppliers will hold conferences. Regional energy ministers will convene. Investors will want to see the site. Training programmes will run for thousands of new workers. Product launches, board retreats and incentive trips will follow the money.

Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions is the highest-yielding segment in global tourism. A MICE delegate spends far more per day than a leisure traveller. Lamu, with its culture, cuisine and island charm, can become the place where East Africa's energy sector does business by day and unwinds at sunset in a dhow. That is a product no other refinery town on earth can offer.

✅️ Fourth, infrastructure changes everything
The biggest obstacle to Lamu tourism has never been oil. It has been access. Expensive flights, limited routes, and roads that have tested the patience of every tour operator I know.

A project of this scale does not happen without roads, reliable power, water, telecoms, an upgraded airport and more frequent flights. Every one of those investments benefits the tourist. A guest who can fly in easily, stay connected and move safely is a guest who comes back and tells his friends.

[Richard Tanui @RTANUI]

@gabimartinelli Congrats mate

[Richard Tanui @RTANUI]

@AbsaKenya it’s so frustrating dealing with you lot. I cleared my secured loan 2 months ago, after repeated attempts to get my securities back I have given up.

[Ahmednasir Abdullahi SC @ahmednasirlaw]

Kenya is building a new airport at a cost of US$ 1.5 billion. Ethiopia is building a new airport at a cost of US$12.5 billion. Some lowlife dimwits are complaining about Kenya's cost...idiots!

[Paul Kagame @PaulKagame]

Congratulations to @Arsenal, our #VisitRwanda partner, on being the Premier League champions after a hard fought season!

A well-deserved title!

[Richard Tanui @RTANUI]

@ahmednasirlaw @Arsenal Was looking for Manchester utd name but alas it’s missing . So it’s been a while for the noisy club

[Richard Tanui @RTANUI]

@ahmednasirlaw In all fairness the own goals are conceded because of concerted effort by the players. Well done lads

[Ahmednasir Abdullahi SC @ahmednasirlaw]

"Whoever must govern Singapore MUST HAVE THAT IRON IN HIM" Does H.E @WilliamsRuto "HAVE THAT IRON IN HIM" to fire JurisPESA judges and jail dollar billionaires on a paltry civil service salary?

[Mutahi Ngunyi @MutahiNgunyi]

The MAN fighting Ruto using Kikuyu PROTESTORS is Uhuru Kenyatta. Take it or leave it. Kenyans are STUPID!

[Hon Sam Atandi @SamuelAtandi]

We forgot about sabasaba during the twin regimes of Mzee Kibaki & Uhuru Kenyatta! Our entitlement over state power now demands that we revive sabasaba because our “god” was impeached.

[Ahmednasir Abdullahi SC @ahmednasirlaw]

I like wakili Njuri. He doesn't sugarcoat. He shoots straight. He is unapologetic. He speaks for his TRIBAL base. "A Kalenjin can't rule Kikuyus," he says. Wakili, we heard you, but in trying to overthrow this Kalenjin, PLEASE don't burn Kenya.

[Citizen TV Kenya @citizentvkenya]

Coffee Millionaires:

Coffee farmers celebrate a return to profitability

Coffee now fetching up to Ksh 145 per kilogram

Government praised for steering reforms in the sector

Coffee industry supports an estimated 150,000 jobs

Wamiti: We thank the government for its support

#CitizenSundayLive @KoinangeJeff @OBurrows

[Richard Tanui @RTANUI]

@kipmurkomen Tell that to your college in the cabinet .

[Richard Tanui @RTANUI]

@gabrieloguda This guy is so funny… anyways it’s just politics

[Richard Tanui @RTANUI]

@gabrieloguda Let’s get rid of this senate shenanigans. We never needed it

[Mihr Thakar @MihrThakar]

Starlink doesn't present an existential threat to the players in the fixed internet market.

Yes, it will gain market share, but it will remain one of the providers.

The real threat comes from direct to phone services.

[Richard Tanui @RTANUI]

@paulinenjoroge Of course, Ruto will wipe the floor on this one.
Kalonzo will not get 30% of the vote.

[Richard Tanui @RTANUI]

@kipmurkomen All the best brother

[Barack Obama @BarackObama]

Like Vice President Harris, Governor @Tim_Walz believes that government works to serve us. Not just some of us, but all of us. That’s what makes him an outstanding governor, and that’s what will make him an even better vice president. Michelle and I couldn’t be happier for Tim and Gwen, their family, and our country.

[Richard Tanui @RTANUI]

@Aaroncheruiyot @skmusyoka Wow