According to the company’s website press release on March 1, 2023, President of Kenya William Samoei Ruto has met Eni Chief Executive Officer Claudio Descalzi in Nairobi, to discuss Eni's agribusiness activities, future projects and decarbonisation initiatives in the country. Cabinet Secretary for Energy and Oil Davis Chirchir also attended the meeting.
Descalzi and the delegation illustrated to President Ruto the results of the project for the production of vegetable oil for biorefining, which the company launched in the country in 2022. Based on an integrated supply chain model, the project leverages marginal or degraded land and crops that do not compete with the food supply chain. The first processing plant (or agri-hub) in Makueni county, has a capacity of 15,000 tons/year and its production of vegetable oil is already feeding the Gela refinery, in Italy. A second agri-hub will be launched in the second half of 2023, and others in the following years, to reach a production target of 200,000 tonnes by 2026.
The social impacts are particularly relevant: 40,000 farmers have been involved to date for the production of oilseeds, to which another 40,000 will be added by the end of the year, with a projection of around 200,000 by 2026. The agri-hub currently employs more than 100 resources directly, which will exceed 500 when the other agri-hubs are completed. Furthermore, 2,000 tons of animal feed for local consumption were obtained as a by-product of the oilseeds.
Eni CEO also shared with President Ruto the Waste & Residue initiatives, also to provide feedstock for biorefining. The collection and export of used cooking oil began in 2022 and today involves over 400 suppliers.
This model, initially defined and implemented in Kenya, has been extended to other African countries, contributing to integrate the continent into the sustainable mobility value chain and promoting a virtuous environmental, economic and social development model.
Finally, Descalzi and President Ruto also discussed further initiatives in the areas of e-mobility, renewable energy (specifically solar, wind and geothermal) and waste to energy. These programs will be finalized in the next months.
