Kenya, Rwanda sign fuel deal to secure imports through Mombasa
Rwanda will route more fuel through Mombasa under a state-backed corridor that could lift annual volumes from about 50,000 cubic metres to more than 500,000.
Kenya and Rwanda signed three agreements in Nairobi to move more of Rwanda’s fuel imports through Mombasa and Kenya’s pipeline network. The pact aims to make deliveries more predictable for a landlocked country that has relied on overland links through both Tanzania and Kenya.
The framework includes a memorandum of understanding, a tripartite agreement and a transport and storage agreement. It places the Port of Mombasa, Kenya’s 1,342-kilometre pipeline network, storage depots and the Kisumu Oil Jetty on Lake Victoria at the center of Rwanda’s petroleum supply chain, with the first cargo due in Mombasa between September 4 and September 6 under shipment RNEC 001/2026.
Opiyo Wandayi, Kenya’s energy and petroleum cabinet secretary, said the arrangement would secure Rwanda’s access to refined products over the long haul. Antoine-Marie Kajangwe, Rwanda’s trade and industry minister, said it was a turning point for Rwanda’s energy sector and would improve access to petroleum products that are reliable, affordable and secure.
The agreement also marks the end point of talks that began in Kigali in November 2024 and were approved by Kenya’s Cabinet on June 16. The institutions tasked with carrying it out include the Rwanda National Energy Company and the Kenya Pipeline Company, alongside the energy ministries and regulators in both countries. Rwanda National Energy Company has already been registered in Kenya and licensed by the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority to import, export and wholesale petroleum products.
The agreement projects annual petroleum throughput through the Northern Corridor to rise from roughly 42,000 to 50,000 cubic metres now to more than 500,000 cubic metres, or about 500 million litres, under the new arrangement. Rwanda previously accounted for less than 10% of Kenya’s petroleum market, but that share is set to grow as more cargo moves through the Kenyan route instead of ad hoc commercial procurement.
Kenya Pipeline Company has 1.13 billion litres of petroleum storage capacity backing the system, and it has extended free storage for Rwanda-bound petrol and diesel cargoes from 35 days to 90 days for an initial two-year period.
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