The proposed investment will be located within the LAPSSET Special Economic Zone. LAPSSET regional manager Salim Bunu and KPA manager for terminal engineering Albert Owino lead a meeting with CPF Investment delegation led by John Mwaniki from CPF Investment Nairobi, to discuss the proposed refinery site and the development of the project.
The delegation had earlier met Investment Promotion PS Abubakar Hassan/ HANDOUT LAPSSET regional manager Salim Bunu and KPA manager for terminal engineering Albert Owino lead a meeting with CPF Investment delegation led by John Mwaniki from CPF Investment Nairobi, to discuss the proposed refinery site and the development of the project.
The delegation had earlier met Investment Promotion PS Abubakar Hassan/ HANDOUT KENYA is inching closer to having a local palm oil factory, in what is expected to help cut billions spent on imports. Plans for a refinery and commercial plantations in Lamu county are gaining momentum, which is part of a broader partnership with Malaysia.
The proposed investment will be located within the LAPSSET Special Economic Zone (SEZ), where discussions are already under way between Kenyan authorities, CPF Investment and Malaysian consultants over the establishment of a palm oil refinery. LAPSSET regional manager Salim Bunu and Kenya Ports Authority manager for terminal engineering Albert Owino hosted the CPF Investment delegation and its Malaysian consultant to discuss the proposed refinery site and the development of the project.
CPF Investment has identified land in Witu, Lamu county, where it plans to establish palm plantations, signalling a shift from Kenya's traditional dependence on imported crude palm oil towards developing a domestic supply chain. Kenya imports about one million tonnes of palm oil annually, with the value estimated at close to $1 billion (Sh129.4 billion).
The commodity is one of the country's major import expenditure items and is widely used in cooking oil, food processing, soap manufacturing and cosmetics. About 90 per cent of Kenya's palm oil imports comprise crude palm oil, mainly sourced from Malaysia and Indonesia, which is then refined locally.
The proposed Lamu refinery would therefore give Kenya an opportunity to retain more value within the domestic economy while creating an industrial base for supplying the local and regional markets.