Tamoil wins Eldoret - Kampala oil pipeline bid

Monday, 24 July 2006
By Edris Kisambira

KAMPALA — Tamoil East Africa Limited has won a long-running bid to finance and extend the oil pipeline from Eldoret to Kampala at a development cost of US$72 million.

The 320-kilometre pipeline will be a build, own, operate and transfer (BOOT) venture after a period of 20 years. When contacted, Mr. Godfrey Mugabi, Tamoil East Africa's operations/commercial manager told Business Week in Kampala last week that the Joint Coordinating Committee (JCC) should have awarded the contract long ago to the best consortia had it not been for counter petitions from one of the bidders.

The award letter, which Business Week has had access to said: “We are pleased to inform you that following the evaluation of bids,the proposal by Tamoil Group was found to be the most economically advantageous.

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Government in move to tame high oil prices

By Tom Mogusu

The Government has initiated plans to import petroleum products from the Middle East in a move aimed at bringing down consumer prices.

Energy acting minister, Henry Obwocha, on Wednesday announced the Government was making arrangements to import and sell petroleum products at lower prices. The initiative is expected to provide consumers with an alternative source for fuel at a time when oil marketers are being accused of making high price adjustments.

Even though international fuel prices have been raising over the past three years, the minister claimed that oil marketers were exploiting consumers by inflating prices.

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State told to remove cargo embargo at Eldoret Airport

By Stephen Makabila

The Government has been petitioned to lift an embargo on transit cargo at the Eldoret International Airport.

The petition was made by the Eldoret Business Council (EBC), which was constituted by Transport Permanent Secretary Gerishon Ikiara, to seek ways of boosting export trade through the airport.

"The embargo is turning away airlines from the airport because they have to offload their entire cargo," said EBC chairman Micah Cheserem during a meeting at the airport.

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EASSy project receives Sh12 billion financing

By Noel Wandera

Eight development finance institutions (DFIs) will partly finance the Eastern Africa Submarine Cable System (EASSy)project.

The institutions will inject Sh12.4 billion in the Sh15 billion undersea cable, which will be commissioned in the first quarter of 2008.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), which is the private lending arm of the World Bank, on Wednesday said the money "will complement equity contribution" from the EASSy members.

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Plans to import electricity in high gear

By Eric Orina

Plans to import electricity from Ethiopia are on course, the head of the public service, Mr Francis Muthaura, has said.

The connection to the Ethiopian grid, to be effected in two years’ time, is expected to add 400 megawatts (mw) of electricity to the national pool, he said.

He told members of the Rotary Club of Muthaiga in Nairobi on Monday evening that in spite of the 1,200km to be covered in connecting to the Ethiopian grid, the cost per unit would be lower than that for electricity generated locally.

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New bus operator on city routes


By Kimathi Njoka

A new bus operator in Nairobi promises to revolutionise passenger transport in Nairobi.

The operator, Kenya Bus Service Management (KBSM), has commenced operations in what is expected to stiffen competition as three major players now battle it out for a share of the lucrative city passenger transport.

On Tuesday, The Standard could not establish the identity of the owners behind KBSM and whether its current fleet was bought from the defunct Kenya Bus Service (KBS).

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Alcatel wins Sh15b fibre optic tender

By Noel Wandera

A French telecommunication company, Alcatel has won a Sh15 billion tender to lay a cable connecting the Eastern African coastline to the global fibre optic network.

Representatives of regional state telecommunication companies who formed the project management committee signed a construction and management (CNMA) document at the Stanley Hotel yesterday.

Project co-ordinator, John Sihra, from Zanzibar telecommunication (Zantel) said the "CNMA agreement will guide the project for the next 25 years". He said all the parties involved will abide by it.

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Kenya Pipeline tender attracts ten bidders

By Kimathi Njoka

Two international companies are among 10 firms that have shown interest in a multi billion shilling Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) tender.

The two, China Petroleum and Japan Engineering Corporation, were among the ten companies that tendered for the Mombasa-Nairobi oil pipeline capacity enhancement project. The bids were opened yesterday at the KPC head offices in Nairobi.

The winning bidder will be expected to install four petroleum pumping stations along the existing Mombasa-Nairobi pipeline to enhance the pumping capacity. The first phase involves the construction of four additional pump stations at Samburu, Manyani, Makindu and Konza.

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Undersea cable project kicks off next month

By Noel Wandera


After almost four years of bickering, launch of the $230 million Eastern Africa Submarine Cable System project, popularly known as EASSy, begins next month.

However, before the work begins, the EASSy secretariat on Thursday formed a task force to solve the last hurdle, which involves issues surrounding internal cabling in landlocked countries.

"These issues have not been resolved, and the assignment has been left for the task force," said M A Jama of Dalkom Telecommunication at the close of a stakeholders’ meeting in Nairobi.

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State in fresh plans to instal fibre optic cable

By Noel Wandera

The Government is ready to lay an alternative marine fibre optic cable if implementation of the East Africa Marine Optic Fibre project (EASSy) is delayed further.

Sources told The Standard that the cable will hook Kenya to Fujiara in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at a cost of Sh5.8 billion (US$80 million), should a contractor for the EASSy project remain unknown this week."We expect that any time this week, the contractor will be announced," a source said.

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Telkom to lose Sh3b in gateway licensing shift

By Michael Omondi

When chief executives of mobile telephone service firms Safaricom and Celtel converged at a Nairobi hotel last Friday to collect international gateway licences for voice from the Communications Commission of Kenya, the one thing that occupied the minds of Kenyans was the cost benefits that are expected to accrue from it.

Telecommunications experts reckoned that direct routing of international traffic should see the cost of international calls drop significantly as service providers pass over the benefits to the consumer.

But as Michael Joseph, the CEO Safaricom and his counterpart at Celtel Gerhardt May smiled to the cameras holding what could easily pass as their tickets to freedom, one industry player was back at the drawing board crafting out a response plan for what might be the biggest threat yet to its revenue base since liberalisation of the telecoms sector began four years ago.

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Give data firms incentives, State told

By Noel Wandera

The Government has been urged to provide public data network organisations (PDNOs) with incentives to speed up the rolling out of frequencies to rural areas.

Kenya Data Network (KDN) officials on Monday said the cost of the venture discouraged PDNOs and instead operators preferred urban centres. They, however, reckon that expansion of services to the rural areas would hook up more people.

"We have 48 base stations serving non-urban centres and we expected to cover the whole country. What we need are incentives to roll-out," said Kai Wulff.

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Motorists to pay toll fee, says minister

By Noel Wandera

Motorists might start paying toll fee for using the road stretch between Nyayo Stadium and Westland beginning September 2006.

Assistant Minister for Roads and Public Works Joshua Toro said discussions with the concessionaire are at an advanced stage, and that "we will start tolling both sides of the road in September this year."

He said both parties had agreed on terms and that the success of the project would encourage more Kenyans to participate in such ventures.

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Mobile operators granted gateway licences

By Micheal Omondi

Mobile phone users would soon pay lower rates for international calls following the granting of international voice gateway licences to the two mobile operators.

Communication Commission of Kenya (CCK) — the industry regulator — yesterday awarded Celtel and Safaricom the licences paving the way for the two operators to route all their international calls through their own gateways.

Previously, close to six million mobile phone subscribers had to be connected through the state-owned Telkom Kenya international gateway.

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Sameer Africa eyes Sudan market

By Kimathi Njoka

Sameer Africa will set up a tyre distribution centre in Sudan as part of its push for the regional export market.

Sameer Africa managing director, Eric Kimani, said key officials from the company would in two weeks tour the country with a view to setting up a distribution hub in Khartoum and Juba .

The foray into the Sudanese market follows the granting of the Comesa certification allowing the company to export its tyre products into the Sudan.

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