Sources at Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) depots have revealed that unleaded oil exports to Uganda and Rwanda have risen dramatically as the deadline to phase out leaded fuel expires on Saturday, according to local daily The Standard on Saturday.

Over 40 African countries have committed to phase out leaded fuel from the market in accordance to the 2001 Dakar Declaration signed by the 48 sub-Saharan Africa countries.

The KPC Eldoret Depot Manager Daniel Ochieng said Rwanda and Uganda were now taking 70 percent of the unleaded fuel products from the Eldoret depot.

Most fuel exporters to the regional countries -- Rwanda, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Burundi -- collected their products from Eldoret and Kisumu KPC depots in western Kenya.

Industry sources also confirmed that the Mombasa-based Kenya Petroleum Refineries Limited had last month stopped producing leaded fuel in favor of unleaded.

The Nairobi-based United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) has over the years championed a global campaign to phase out leaded fuel due to health and environmental concerns.

The UN agency had received massive support from the World Health Organization, vehicles manufacturers and child rights lobby groups across the globe.

Source: Xinhua