The Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) Ltd and a consortium of banks have signed a syndicated term loan facility agreement to finance the construction of the Western Kenya Pipeline Extension (WKPE) at an estimated cost of KES14.8bn. The banks include CFC Stanbic Bank Ltd, Barclays Bank of Kenya Ltd, Commercial Bank of Africa (CBA) Ltd, Citibank, N.A Kenya Branch and Kenya Commercial Bank (CBK) and will jointly lend the company KES8.2 bn. KPC will fund the balance from internally generated resources. CFC Stanbic Bank Ltd, Commercial Bank of Africa Ltd and Kenya Commercial Bank have each loaned KPC KES1.687bn while Barclays Bank of Kenya Ltd and Citibank, N.A Kenya Branch loaned the company KES1.5bn and KES1.640bbn respectively. The funds will be spent on the following:
- Supply and construction of a 14inch diameter 325km long steel pipeline from Nairobi to Eldoret
- Site preparation and associated civil works
- Site facilities including fencing, gates, roads, paths, drainage, water supply and equipment supports.
- Construction of office/control building, mainline pump shelter.
- Installation of two new mainline pumps in parallel configuration in PS21 and PS24 (Nakuru) respectively.
- Upgrade of a firewater main including installation of hydrant pillars, cabinets with hoses and extinguishers.
- Erection of outdoor 66/33kV switchyard together with provision of on-site electrical distribution, high and low voltage switchgear, cabling, standby diesel engine generator, lighting and small power.
- Installation of a control system and field instrumentation including a remote pig detection device
Signing the agreement on behalf of KPC, the Managing Director, Mr. George Okungu thanked the banks for the funds saying it was a sign of confidence in KPC and that the money will go a long way to ensure the success of the project. “Since we could not meet the entire cost of the parallel line from Nairobi to Eldoret, we decided to get into partnership with local banks. After several months of negotiations between representatives of the consortium of banks and KPC’s board and management, we are here today signing this agreement which has been vetted and approved by various arms of Government,” he added. Mr. Okungu further said the KPC board of directors and management embarked on the project in a bid to meet the increasing demand for petroleum products in Kenya and the East and Central Africa region. The Managing Director who was flanked by Chief Manager (F&S), Mr. Selest Kilinda, Company Secretary, Mrs Mary Kiptui and Chief Legal Officer, Mrs Flora Okoth, said detailed engineering project designs were ready and tenders for the project were about to be awarded. “We envisage that the project will be completed by 30th November, 2011,” he added. Speaking on behalf of the Consortium, Mr. John Ngumi said the provision of the loan by local banks was a testimony that these Institutions had confidence in KPC. He further explained that the signing of this agreement should act as an eye opener to other parastatals. “It is clear that if parastatals are well managed, they can easily access credit from local banks. I want to add that KPC borrowed this loan without support from government. There was no guarantee or letter from the Government to influence the issuance of this loan. KPC got this loan because of its strong financial status,” he added.
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