President Uhuru Kenyatta on Thursday inspected Eni Kenya, the country’s first agri-hub that produces vegetable oil and related bio-products.
The agri-hub located at Kwa Kathoka in Makueni County started production in July and has already employed close to 200 workers, mostly young people from the county.
The establishment of the agri-hub was a result of a meeting held in Nairobi between President Kenyatta and Claudio Descalzi, the CEO of Eni SPA, an Italian multinational energy company headquartered in Rome.
In July last year, Eni Kenya signed an agreement with the Government of Kenya to promote the circular economy by setting up 20 agri-hubs for the production of biofuels and related bio-products, with the Makueni agri-hub as the first.
Addressing workers during the inspection visit, Uhuru encouraged them to work hard so that the factory can expand rapidly and create more jobs, earn farmers' income and help to reduce the cost of fuel.
Speaking during the occasion, Eni Kenya’s Managing Director Enrico Tavolini said the Makueni agri-hub has an installed capacity of 15,000 tons of oil production annually.
Tavolini added that the factory has already provided market access to over 25,000 farmers and will also operate as a training and technical support hub for the farmers.
Present during the inspection tour were Energy Cabinet Secretary Monica Juma and Makueni Governor Kivutha Kibwana and senior officials of the National and county governments.
