Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) Group next month plans to make the first US dollar payment for the fuel imported on credit over the past six months, a local media said.
The country's first payment in September will be $500 million out of $3 billion it accumulated over the past six months.
In early July, Kenyan President William Ruto reportedly sent a delegation to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to negotiate the easing of some terms of the agreement on oil import. The delegation included representatives of the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA), National Treasury, and Ministry of Energy.
It managed to persuade the petroleum majors to vary import volumes depending on demand but failed to negotiate for cheaper fuel based on market fluctuations, according to the media.
"They were told to come back and await a response on the issue of the premium, but there has been no response to date," one of the sources familiar with the development told the media.
On August 20, in response to the pressure from the International Monetary Fund, which considered the deal as a signal of the worsening financial situation in the country, Kenyan Treasury Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndung'u pointed out that the state could withdraw from it when it expires and return to buying on the open market.
However, Energy Cabinet Secretary Davies Chirchir was quoted as saying that the onset of payments would not threaten the currency market in Kenya.
"We have been buying dollars since the arrival of the first cargo and are set for next month's payment. We will not have a sudden surge in dollar demand," he said.
The deal involved state-owned companies such as Saudi Aramco, Emirates National Oil Corporation (ENOC), and the Abu Dhabi National Oil Corporation Global Trading Company (ADNOC).
The nine-month deal, which lasts till December, involved from 250,000 to 300,000 tonnes of oil and from 330,000 to 380,000 tonnes of diesel every month. In addition, the deal stipulates the supply of about 80,000 tons of aviation fuel per month.