New Lake Victoria petroleum transportation deal to cut off 400 fuel trucks

According to a statement from AFC, part of the money will be used to construct two barges that will deliver fuel from Kisumu across Lake Victoria to Uganda.

Mahathi

The entrusted company, Mahathi, is emerging as one of East Africa's largest oil and gas downstream players aiming to further connect to Rwanda and DRC markets. It also operates MT Kabaka Mutebi II ship which has been transporting fuel from Kisumu to the Bukasa-Bwerenga terminal in Wakiso district since December.

It is expected that the two barges on Lake Victoria will provide a more efficient and less carbon-intensive alternative to traditional trucking.

AFC also said the financing will also support enabling infrastructure including 14 petroleum storage tanks, 20 truck loading bays, a jetty, and a parking lot with a capacity of 50 trucks.

It is expected that those facilities will not only transform petroleum product transportation in Uganda but also significantly reduce cost, and transportation time, and eliminate carbon emissions associated with transportation by trucks through Malaba and Busia borders.

New developments

New Lake Victoria petroleum transportation deal to cut off 400 fuel trucks/Courtesy Pulse

A single barge trip on Lake Victoria will replace 200 trucks on the road daily and eliminate 100,000 truck journeys on East Africa’s busiest transport route; from Kisumu, Kenya, to Kampala, Uganda. This reduction in road traffic will ease congestion and minimize issues such as product adulteration, theft, and accidents.

It will also alleviate working capital burdens for small and medium-sized distributors, enabling them to procure products directly from the Mahathi storage facility, and reducing delivery time from seven days to immediate access.

AFC President, Samaila Zubairu, said the provision of the funding is a significant milestone in their mission to sustainably address Africa’s infrastructure challenges.

“Through this investment, we are contributing to the transformation of petroleum transportation in Uganda with a lower-emissions alternative that cuts costs significantly, reduces road congestion, and improves mobility and accessibility for people, leading to sustainable economic growth and productivity,” said Zubairu.

The AFC said that the self-propelled barges are designed in accordance with international Environmental and safety standards to prevent fuel leakage.

“They will decrease greenhouse gas emissions by over 95%, from 172,103 tonnes to 7,692 tonnes of CO2, annually on the basis that one self-propelled barge has the equivalent storage capacity of 200 trucks and a significantly shorter travel distance over Lake Victoria of about 250km compared to the 350km road route,” reads part of the statement.