The refinery is planned for Lamu on Kenya’s Indian Ocean coast, where the government is also developing a major port.
Dangote said the facility will have a refining capacity of 700,000 barrels of crude oil per day, making it larger than any refinery currently operating in Europe.
The project has faced opposition from a local community over land rights, while environmental groups, including Greenpeace, have also raised concerns about its potential impact.
A court ruling published on Monday cleared the way for the groundbreaking to proceed, although the land rights case will continue.
Dangote dismissed the challenges facing the project, saying such legal and environmental objections should not prevent development.
“There’s actually no problem with these sort of cases… There are people who don’t want the development of Africa,” he said.
The businessman said Lamu was chosen over other locations, including Tanzania and Mombasa, because of its cleaner water, solid land and deep-sea area.
The refinery will also include a 1,000-megawatt power facility, with half of the electricity generated expected to be supplied to the Kenyan national grid.
Dangote said the project forms part of his broader vision of helping Africa reduce its dependence on imported fuel and foreign expertise.
He said he expects the majority of African countries to become self-sufficient in fuel by 2030, arguing that crude oil should be refined within the continent.
On concerns over crude oil supply, Dangote said the refinery would source crude from multiple locations, including the Middle East and the United States, while also preparing to process oil from emerging producers such as Kenya, Tanzania and Mozambique.
He added that the planned 700,000-barrel-per-day capacity would ultimately be modest compared with the fuel demand Africa is expected to generate as its economy and population continue to grow.
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