- Kenya Plans Africa’s First Dedicated Sustainable Aviation Fuel Refinery
Kenya is positioning itself at the forefront of Africa’s green aviation transition after securing plans for what is expected to become the continent’s first dedicated sustainable aviation fuel refinery. The proposed project, backed by Kenya Airways and Rubis Energy Kenya, is expected to cost up to US$82 million and produce about 32,000 metric tonnes of sustainable aviation fuel annually.
The investment marks a significant step in Africa’s attempt to decarbonise aviation while reducing its dependence on imported fossil-based jet fuel. The agreement was signed during French President Emmanuel Macron’s state visit to Kenya alongside Kenyan President William Ruto, underscoring growing European interest in financing Africa’s clean-energy industrial ambitions. The refinery is expected to be located near Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Kenya’s main international aviation hub, and could become operational within two years.
It is expected to use modular refining technology capable of processing renewable feedstocks, including used cooking oil, agricultural waste and animal fats.
For Kenya, the project is both an energy transition play and an industrial strategy bet. If delivered as planned, it could place Nairobi at the centre of an emerging regional supply chain for low-carbon aviation fuel at a time when airlines, regulators and investors are placing greater pressure on the aviation industry to cut emissions.
Global airlines are increasingly turning to sustainable aviation fuel as one of the more immediate pathways to lowering aviation emissions. Unlike conventional jet fuel, SAF can significantly reduce lifecycle carbon emissions while remaining compatible with existing aircraft engines and airport fuelling infrastructure.
That compatibility makes SAF particularly important for a sector where full electrification remains technically difficult for long-haul travel.
For Africa, however, the challenge has not only been adoption. It has been production.
Despite growing global demand for cleaner aviation fuels, the continent has lacked a large-scale dedicated refinery capable of supporting regional supply chains. This has left African airlines exposed to imported fuel costs, limited availability and the risk of being price-takers in an industry moving gradually toward carbon-linked regulation.
The Kenyan project could begin to change that equation.
Industry analysts say the proposed refinery could help establish East Africa as a strategic SAF production hub, especially if feedstock collection, processing capacity and logistics are developed around the facility.
The investment could also stimulate local value chains in waste collection, biofuel processing, renewable energy logistics and specialised technical services.
For Kenya Airways, the project could strengthen its long-term sustainability positioning as airlines face mounting pressure to demonstrate credible emissions-reduction pathways. For Rubis Energy Kenya, it offers an entry point into a higher-value clean fuel market that could grow as SAF mandates, voluntary airline commitments and carbon reporting requirements deepen.
Executives involved in the project say the initiative will prioritise local participation, technology transfer and workforce development as part of broader efforts to strengthen Kenya’s industrial and energy sectors.
The development adds to a wider push across Africa to attract climate-linked infrastructure financing, as governments seek to balance industrial growth with global decarbonisation targets.
It also raises a wider question for the continent: whether Africa can move beyond being a consumer of green technologies to becoming a producer of the industrial inputs needed for the energy transition.
Kenya’s SAF refinery is unlikely to solve Africa’s aviation fuel challenge on its own. Production of 32,000 metric tonnes annually would represent an important beginning, but not enough to transform the continent’s aviation fuel market immediately. Its larger significance lies in what it signals.
Africa’s aviation industry is entering a world where fuel sourcing, emissions reporting, carbon intensity and access to cleaner energy will increasingly shape competitiveness. Countries that build early production capacity may gain strategic advantage, particularly if global SAF supply remains tight and costly.
