Italian multinational oil and gas company, Eni has exported its first cargo of vegetable oil produced in Kenya for biorefining in its Gela biorefinery in Italy. The company noted that the cargo was the first ever to be shipped from Africa.
The vegetable oil is produced in the Makueni-based agri-hub launched in July. The firm processes castor, cotton, and cotton seeds sourced from degraded areas, providing income opportunities and markets to thousands of farmers. The firm also manufactures feed and bio-fertilizers from the protein component of seeds, benefiting livestock production and thus contributing to food security.
Eni’s chief executive, Claudio Descalzi hailed the shipment, noting the company’s plan to gradually involve other African countries and geographic areas where the company has such projects.
“Just three months after the start-up of the Makueni agri-hub, we are launching the export of vegetable oil for the biorefineries, through a vertical integration model that enables the promotion of sustainable local development while exploiting the supply chain for biofuels production,” said Descalzi.
According to Descalzi, vegetable oil production in Kenya will extend to congo in the next year, with production projected to hit 20,000 tons in 2023 from 2,500 tons by the end of 2022.
Along with vegetable oil, Eni has also started to export the Used Cooking Oil (UCO) collected from hotel chains, restaurants, and bars in Nairobi, through a project already underway that promotes the culture of recycling, raising awareness of the environmental and health benefits that derive from the proper disposal of waste oil, and generating income from waste.
Eni launched the project in Kenya in 2021, after the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding with the Kenyan institutions. The initiative foresees the construction of other agri-hubs, with the second one to be operational in 2023, and the production growth with the involvement of tens of thousands of farmers, contributing significantly to the country’s rural development and long-term value creation.
Kenya leads the way for Eni’s initiatives in the agro-industrial chain, which currently includes Congo, Mozambique, Angola, Ivory Coast, Benin, Rwanda, and Kazakhstan. The company’s supply chain and all agri-feedstock developed are certified according to the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC-EU) sustainability scheme, one of the main voluntary standards recognized by the European Commission for the certification of biofuels.