President Kenyatta Inspects Sh40 Billion Kipevu Oil Terminal

President Kenyatta on Thursday inspected the ongoing construction of the Sh40 billion Kipevu Oil Terminal in Mombasa.

The 770-meter-long jetty, the largest of its kind in Africa, is 96 percent complete and is set to be officially launched in April.

Its construction is fully funded by the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) and implemented by China Communications Construction Company.

When complete, the offshore terminal will be able to load and offload large sea tankers of up to 200,000 deadweight tonnage carrying all categories of petroleum products including crude oil, white oils, and LPG.

Kenyatta, who was flanked by visiting Chinese Foreign Affairs Minister Wang Yi, said the new offshore jetty will save the country up to Sh2 billion annually in demurrage costs incurred by oil shippers.

The jetty which will replace the 50-year old onshore Kipevu Oil Terminal is expected to enhance the supply and ensure price stability of petroleum products in the country and the region. 

“Once complete the new facility will be able to reduce not only the cost of fuel but also to ensure that Kenya is able to consistently have an adequate supply of fuel for our needs and development needs that of our people,” said Kenyatta.

At the same time, Kenyatta defended Kenya’s partnership with China, saying it has helped deliver key infrastructure projects. He added that the populous Asian nation was progressively opening up its expansive domestic market to Kenyan exports.

“Our partnership with China is not a partnership based on China telling us what to do. It is a partnership of friends, working together to meet Kenya’s socio-economic agenda.

“The old Kipevu Oil Terminal which for many years we have struggled with, was not able to meet the demands of increasing population, to meet the demands of the growing economy. We needed this facility to be able to cater for those demands and China was there when we asked for partnership in developing it,” said Kenyatta. “We do not need lectures about what we need, we need partners to help us achieve what we require”.