Nairobi billionaire Humphrey Kariuki has secured a multi-million deal to supply jet fuel to the United Nations. The billionaire has landed two deals to supply jet fuel to bases run by the UN in northern Uganda and eastern DRC through his oil distribution firm, Dalbit Petroleum.
The two deals are worth a whooping Sh. 796.79 million. The bases are operated by the UN’s World Food Programmes (WFP) which provides emergency assistance to people displaced by fighting in the DRC.
“We are excited that Dalbit has secured the contract to supply WFP in Gulu and Goma and this works well with our commitment to fuelling regional growth across the social and economic development fronts,” Dalbit International South Sudan business manager John Paul Ogondi said in the statement.
“In such remote areas, Dalbit is deploying tailor-made solutions including customised product delivery options to enable WFP to meet its humanitarian mandate efficiently and cost-effectively.”
Dalbit South Sudan’s jet oil supply deal with the UN agency for the Gulu base is estimated at $6.8 million (about Sh. 685.85 million), while that for Goma is valued at $1.1 million (about Sh. 110.95 million), the firm said in a statement.
The firm said it has built a depot with capacity of 720,000 litres of jet oil at Gulu, a town located some 340 kilometres from Kampala.
Dalbit added it was in final phases of completing fabrication of two holding tanks for petroleum products at the Goma airport, partly used for coordination of donor support.
Additionally, the Business Daily reports that Dalbit is part of Mr Humphrey Kariuki’s business empire which includes The Hub shopping mall in Nairobi’s upmarket Karen estate, alcohol maker Africa Spirits Limited (ASL) and UK-registered power developer Great Lakes Africa Energy (GLAE).
“The jet fuel deal with WFP is only the latest in Mr. Kariuki’s extensive portfolio that also includes a Sh. 40 billion deal between GLAE and the Mozambique government to generate electricity using natural gas,” it says.