How EPRA is cracking down on old plague of fuel adulteration
By Felicity Gitonga, July 25, 2025Fuel adulteration has plagued Kenya’s petroleum sector for decades. Unscrupulous dealers mixed kerosene with fuel and diverted export products into domestic markets, damaging engines, reducing efficiency, and causing massive economic losses. Today, the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) is transforming this landscape through innovative technology.
EPRA partnered with SICPA Kenya to develop the Fuel Integrity Solution (FIS), combining biochemical markers, digital monitoring, and strict enforcement. A patented, non-toxic biochemical marker is added to petroleum products at entry points, enabling detection of even minor tampering throughout the supply chain.
Mobile laboratories equipped with X-ray fluorescence analyzers conduct on-site tests in under five minutes, providing forensic-level analysis that makes fraud detection nearly inevitable. SICPA’s digital infrastructure tracks every marker dose using GPS-traced containers and tamper-proof seals, transmitting data real-time to a secure cloud platform accessible only to authorized personnel.
The 2023-2024 statistics demonstrate remarkable success. Total marked fuel volumes rose 11.7 percent to 3.6 billion litres, while domestic kerosene volumes dropped 48.2 percent, indicating significantly reduced adulteration attempts. Over 27,000 fuel samples from nearly 6,000 sites achieved a 98.67 percent compliance rate, with 85 fuel quality complaints resolved promptly.
The programme introduced mass-based digital dosing using computerized scales accurate to 0.1 percent, replacing unreliable volumetric calculations affected by temperature changes. Every container is uniquely labeled, tracked, and GPS-monitored from warehouse to terminal.
Self-Test Kits launched in 2023 empower retail operators to verify fuel quality independently, adding another detection layer before distribution.
Beyond protecting engines and satisfying consumers, the FIS safeguards government revenue previously lost to tax evasion and fuel dumping. These recovered funds support essential services and infrastructure development.
Cleaner fuel improves combustion, reducing carbon emissions and air pollutants, and this is significant as Kenya faces urbanisation and climate challenges. Enhanced investor confidence and business intelligence reporting contribute to broader economic stability.
SICPA’s solution has earned World Bank and IMF recognition for improving fiscal governance. In 2024, SICPA led the global fuel marking market with over 60 billion litres marked annually across countries including Uganda, Tanzania, and Saudi Arabia.
Despite international scope, Kenya’s programme remains locally executed by trained Kenyan personnel, ensuring capacity building and expertise stay within the country.
EPRA plans to enhance the FIS with predictive analytics for identifying potential fraud hotspots and intensify public awareness campaigns. However, success requires collaborative effort. Businesses must maintain ethical standards, consumers should be vigilant, and stakeholder commitment to supply chain integrity need to be unified.
Through strategic technology deployment, strict enforcement, and public-private collaboration, EPRA proves that integrity and innovation drive together effectively.
The writer is the Chief Editor at Africa Business News.