Nairobi, Sept. 14 -- We work incredibly hard to earn foreign exchange through tea, coffee, horticulture and tourism. Then we send a huge amount of it straight back out of the country to buy the fuel that powers our economy. Hence, our biggest export may actually be foreign exchange.

In 2025, Kenya imported about 5.5 million tonnes of petroleum products, valued roughly Sh511 billion, according to a survey by KNBS's 2026 Economic Survey.

From the same survey, tea exports earned roughly Sh187 billion, cut flowers Sh103 billion, vegetables and fruits Sh100 billion, and unroasted coffee roughly Sh52 billion. Those four alone total about Sh442 billion. Petroleum imports? Sh511 billion. Read that again.

We spent more on imported petroleum tha...