Why Kenya can’t import fuel from Nigeria

If you’ve spent any time at a petrol station lately, you’ve likely felt the sting. 

With fuel prices in Nairobi recently smashing through the roof due to the Iran war, you have probably wondered, “Why are we suffering while our ‘brothers’ in Nigeria are sitting on oceans of oil? Why can’t we just buy from them and save ourselves this headache?”

On paper, it sounds like a no-brainer. Nigeria is Africa’s largest oil producer. Kenya is a hungry consumer. A Pan-African deal should be easy, right?

Here is why that direct pipeline from Lagos to Mombasa remains a hard goal.

The first thing to understand is that Kenya doesn’t actually need "oil." We need fuel.

Think of crude oil as flour and petrol as bread. You can’t eat flour; you need an oven to turn it into something useful.

Kenya’s "oven", the Kenya Petroleum Refineries Ltd (KPRL) in Mombasa, stopped baking in 2013. It was old, inefficient, and producing fuel that didn’t meet modern environmental standards.

Today, KPRL is essentially a giant set of storage tanks owned by the recently privatised Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC).

Because we can't refine the "black gold" ourselves, we have to buy the finished "bread" (refined petrol, diesel, and jet fuel) from whoever has the biggest, most efficient ovens.

You might ask: “Fine, why doesn’t Nigeria just refine it and sell it to us?” Here is the kicker: For decades, Nigeria has been in the same boat as Kenya.

Despite having massive crude reserves, their state-owned refineries in Port Harcourt and Warri were plagued by years of neglect and corruption. Nigeria has spent the last few years importing almost all of its own petrol from Europe.

Until very recently, asking Nigeria for refined fuel was like asking a farmer for a loaf of bread, only to find out he’s buying his own bread from the supermarket in town.

Then there is the geography. If you look at a map, the Middle East (Saudi Arabia, UAE) is our next-door neighbour across the Indian Ocean. A tanker leaving a port in the Gulf can reach Mombasa in a matter of days.

To get fuel from Nigeria, a ship has to sail all the way down the West African coast, navigate the treacherous waters around the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, and come back up the East African coast.

The freight costs and insurance for that "long way round" make Nigerian fuel significantly more expensive by the time it hits our pumps compared to fuel from the Middle East.

In 2023, the Kenyan government shifted the way we buy fuel. To stop the Shilling from collapsing, we entered a Government-to-Government (G-to-G) deal with Gulf giants like Saudi Aramco, ADNOC, and ENOC.

These aren't just simple shopping trips, but they are massive credit deals. These Gulf companies allow Kenya to take fuel now and pay months later. This gives Kenya's Central Bank time to hunt for the US dollars needed for payment.

Nigeria, currently battling its own massive currency crisis and dollar shortage, simply isn't in a position to offer Kenya the 6-month "buy-now-pay-later" terms that the wealthy Gulf states can provide.

Is there hope? Yes, and his name is Aliko Dangote.

The massive Dangote Refinery in Nigeria is finally changing the game. It is now exporting aviation fuel and diesel.

In fact, just this April 2026, reports emerged that Kenya is looking at the Dangote Refinery as a backup as Middle East tensions fluctuate.

Furthermore, Dangote recently announced plans at a summit in Nairobi to build a second refinery in Tanga, Tanzania.

If this project takes off, the "refined fuel" would be produced right here in East Africa, potentially solving the logistics and refining problem in one go.

We can’t talk about fuel without talking about politics. The fuel import business in Kenya is a playground for "Oil Marketing Companies" (OMCs) and powerful cartels. 

The current G-to-G system has already faced heavy criticism and legal challenges from local players who feel locked out of the lucrative business of importing fuel. 

Any shift to a new supplier (like Nigeria) would require navigating a minefield of existing contracts and political interests.

Why don't we buy from Nigeria? Because proximity is cheaper than brotherhood.

Until Nigeria can refine enough fuel to have a steady surplus, and until we find a way to make the shipping costs from West Africa cheaper than the "short hop" from the Middle East, our pumps will remain tied to the Gulf.

We don’t just need a "friend" with oil; we need a friend with an oven, a cheap delivery truck, and a very generous credit card. For now, only the Middle East fits that bill.