A team from the Ugandan Government on Tuesday arrived in Kenya to benchmark the Energy and Petroleum Authority (EPRA).
In a statement, EPRA noted that the team was in the country to study the authority's energy diversification strategy.
The officials were received by EPRA Director General Daniel Kiptoo Bargoria at the authority's head office in Upper Hill, Nairobi.
"EPRA DG received the officials, who are on a benchmarking visit to learn about EPRA's pivotal role in supporting Kenya's energy diversification strategy, the lessons learned and best practices that have fueled the country’s resilience and success in the energy sector, tariff principles, which have been instrumental in achieving the country’s ambitious energy mix targets," read EPRA statement.
The team consisted of officials from Uganda’s Ministry of Energy & Mineral Development, State House, Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development as well as Uganda Electricity Generation Company Ltd.
The visit comes at a time when Kenyans are reeling over an increase in fuel prices hitting all-time high retail rates.
According to the September price review, the cost of Super Petrol increased to Ksh211.64 per litre, Diesel to Ksh200.99 per litre and Kerosene to ksh202.61 per litre in Nairobi.
In August, motorists in Nairobi paid Ksh194.68 for a litre of Super Petrol, Ksh179.67 for a litre of Diesel, and Ksh179.67 for a litre of Kerosene.
Leaders allied to the ruling United Democratic Alliance (UDA) regime estimate that the fuel price for petrol will continually rise month on month and is expected to hit Ksh260 per litre.
At the time, the authority explained that fuel increased to due to the spike in the total landed cost of petroleum products.
In comparison, a litre of petrol retails at Ksh222 in Uganda while diesel retails at an average of Ksh191. As a result of the spike, lawmakers within the neighbouring country have been clashing over the high cost of living.
Tanzania's Benchmark
The Ugandan visit comes two months after the Tanzanian equivalent of EPRA, the Tanzanian Energy and Water Utilities Regulatory Authority (EWURA), carried out a benchmark of its own.
Weeks after the exercise, EWURA increased the prices of petroleum products by up to Ksh27 per litre.
The rise was occasioned by the dollar shortage as well as inadequate fuel stocks which led to lower importation capacity; a similar predicament to one Kenya found itself in.
