tabb has unveiled Kenya’s first fuel credit line at scale through a strategic partnership with Galana Energies to address one of the biggest challenges facing the transport and logistics sector.
The facility is already live and processing transactions across all Galana service stations in East Africa.
The launch comes at a time when rising fuel prices have put immense pressure on transporters, fleet operators, and logistics companies. For many businesses, the challenge has been about the amount of working capital required to keep vehicles on the road.
Today, the same fleet requires significantly more cash to operate than it did just a few weeks ago. For businesses managing large fleets, this means tying up substantial amounts of capital simply to fuel vehicles before any deliveries are made or revenue is earned.
“What we’re launching is the clearest expression yet of tabb’s role in the market: connecting banks, suppliers, and businesses so that credit flows to where it is needed, instantly and without cost.
Suppliers will get paid on the day, businesses will get the fuel they need and the informal credit arrangements that have held this sector back begin to give way to something that actually works,” said Don Okoth, Director of Mobility at tabb.
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Through the partnership, fleet operators and logistics companies can apply for a bank-issued revolving credit line through tabb’s partner banks and access fuel directly at any Galana service station across East Africa.
Suppliers will receive guaranteed payment at the point of sale, while operators repay the bank over an agreed period of between 30 and 90 days.
The arrangement helps bridge the working capital gap that has long strained the sector. It allows businesses to continue operating without disruption while replacing informal credit arrangements with a more structured and reliable financing model.
The credit facility effectively moves with the business, giving operators access to fuel when they need it and allowing repayment as revenue comes in. This means businesses no longer have to choose between meeting fuel expenses and covering other operational costs.
Access to reliable and structured credit remains a critical factor in determining whether businesses can grow and scale sustainably.
“I see this partnership as the inflection point where tabb’s trade credit network moves from enabling transactions to fundamentally reshaping how the entire transport and logistics industry finances its largest expense. Credit should be a tool for growth, not a burden, and that is exactly what we are making it,” said Mesh Alloys, CEO of tabb.
The partnership with Galana Energies points to tabb’s strategic plan to build the credit infrastructure East African businesses need. Through bank-issued credit lines accepted across a growing network of suppliers spanning fuel, hardware, pharmaceuticals, retail, and other sectors, tabb aims to close the working capital gaps that have constrained business growth for decades.
The launch shows that structured and accessible credit is no longer a future aspiration as fuel prices continue to test the resilience of the transport and logistics industry.
