First consignment of fuel from Tanzania’s Tanga Port expected to arrive by Thursday, January 9

*  A total of 1,409 tanker loadings shall be required to bring the entire fuel volumes into Malawi

* Both Malawian and foreign transporters have been engaged to ensure efficient and timely delivery of these volumes

* In the meantime, fuel from contracted suppliers for NOCMA, PIL and other licensed importers continues to flow into the country

By Duncan Mlanjira

The first tankers of the fuel, whose offloading from a vessel from Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE) commenced on Wednesday, January 1 and completed yesterday, are expected to arrive in Malawi on Thursday, January 9.

This has been announced by Minister of Energy Ibrahim Matola on his return from Tanzania’s Tanga Port where he presided over the receipt of the 40,000 metric tons (about 51.5 million litres) of a combined cargo of diesel and petrol from Abu Dhabi.

The Minister announced that the loading of road tankers is expected to commence on Monday, January 6th with a capacity to load up to 80 tankers per day.

“A total of 1,409 truck loadings shall be required to bring the entire fuel volumes into Malawi,” the Minister said. “Both Malawian and foreign transporters have been engaged to ensure efficient and timely delivery of these volumes.

“In the meantime, fuel from contracted suppliers for National Oil Company of Malawi (NOCMA), Petroleum Importers Limited (PIL) and other licensed importers continues to flow into the country.”

The fuel importation arrangement is government’s policy shift of Government-to-Government (G-to-G), through the Energy Ministry and its appointed agent, NOCMA, that has procured the 51.5 million litres of which 28.5 million liters is petrol and 22.5 million diesel.

“The emergency fuel procurement aims at supplementing the normal fuel imports by NOCMA, PIL and other licensed importers which have faced challenges in accessing fuel import financing leading to the current fuel shortages.

“This consignment has been procured under the Kenya bilateral arrangement between the Government of the Republic of Kenya and the Government of the Republic of Malawi using Kenya’s existing G-to-G arrangement with Abu Dhabi while Malawi works to put in place its own G-to-G fuel supply framework with Gulf countries.

“The vessel carrying this maiden consignment, MT High Freedom, arrived at the port of Tanga in Tanzania on 29th December 2024. The fuel was tested by SGS on 31st December 2024 and was duly certified as meeting Malawi’s technical specifications.

“The Ministry wishes to assure the general public that the Government and all relevant stakeholders are working tirelessly to address the fuel supply challenges the country has faced in recent months,” Matola said.

ZBSNews reported yesterday from Tanga Port in Tanzania that the Minister, officials from NOCMA and Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority (MERA) had an interface with authorities Gulf Bulk Petrolium (GBP) at the port.

Minister Matola was quoted as saying the decision to use Tanga Port in the procurement of the emergency fuel supply has been necessitated by heavy congestion in Dar es Salaam, Beira and Nacala ports.

Matola told ZBSNews that using the the usual ports would have resulted in Malawi receiving the fuel in the next months which could have created pressure and switching to Tanga Port is a decision that is a game changer in stabilising the availability of fuel in Malawi and its fuel reserve.

He added that the country has 60 million liters capacity in all its three strategic fuel reserves and has emphasised that the government is not abandoning the open-tender fuel procurement deals.

After being retained as Energy Minister by President Lazarus Chakwera on New Year’s Day, Matola pledged his focus remains clear to ensure consistent fuel availability nationwide — emphasising that under his watch, the Ministry “will work tirelessly to ensure that fuel shortages and queues become a thing of the past”.

He also pledged on building a more resilient energy sector for all Malawians by “expanding rural electrification, diversifying our energy mix, attracting investment in renewable energy, and strengthening our power infrastructure”.

He added that his reappointment as Energy Minister, reflects not just trust in his leadership, but a commitment to continuity in the nation’s energy transformation agenda.

“In my previous tenure, we made significant strides in expanding our power generation capacity, improving distribution networks, and implementing sustainable solutions to stabilize our fuel supply chain,” he wrote on his Facebook page on Thursday.

Last month, President Chakwera constituted a Coordinating Committee to facilitate and execute all aspects of this G-to-G policy at the heart of of the fuel crisis that rippled across the country and at the invitation of UAE’s President last month, the President and Matola travelled to Abu Dhabi to complete the arrangement.

The Coordinating Committee is chaired by Minister Matola that include Ministers of Finance, Trade & Industry, Justice, Foreign Affairs, Cabinet Secretary, the Governor of the Reserve Bank, the Attorney General, the Director General of the Procurement Authority, and the chief executive officers of NOCMA and Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority (MERA).

In his address on New Year’s Day, Chakwera pledged that configuration of his Cabinet will work harder than ever to make Malawians’ lives better this year and beyond.