Waiting to see if fuel supply will indeed normalise following intervention by Vice-President Michael Usi

Veep Usi during the second meeting yesterday.—Pictures courtesy of Government Media

* After the two meetings Usi had with Ministry of Energy, NOCMA, MERA, PPDA and other stakeholders

* Who were tasked with finding solutions to the fuel crisis within a 48-hour time frame on Tuesday, as mandated by President Chakwera

* And after the second meeting, Usi says one solution has been adopted and he is satisfied that its implementation is effective

Analysis by Duncan Mlanjira

It’s been close to over five months since the country has been grappling with the fuel crisis that has led to high inflation and its effects of increased prices of household commodities and agricultural inputs — with no tangible solutions towards its end but just rhetoric.

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As a recap, the crisis forced President Lazarus Chakwera to constitute a Coordinating Committee last November to facilitate and execute all aspects of government-to-government (G-to-G) fuel procurement arrangement.

It followed a visit by the President to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE), to cement the G-to-G arrangement and by first week of January, Energy Minister, Ibrahim Matola, who is chairperson for the Coordinating Committee, received about 51.5 million litres of a combined cargo of diesel and petrol Tanzania’s Tanga Port brought by a sea vessel from Abu Dhabi.

The Minister pledged that by January 9, the first tankers would be in Malawi but the deadline passed until a few days later when he oversaw the arrival of the first 100 tankers at Songwe Border.

Arrival of the fuel in Tanga and part of it at Songwe Border last month

This emergency fuel procurement arrangement was aimed at supplementing the normal fuel imports by National Oil Company of Malawi (NOCMA), Petroleum Importers Limited (PIL), who had been facing challenges in accessing fuel import financing leading to the fuel shortages.

Matola told the nation that they planned to haul in the 51.5 million litres of the fuel from Tanga using 1,409 trucks but after the reported 100 tankers that arrived at Songwe under the supervision of the Minister, none else was announced.

The fuel supply seemed to be normalising but it was a relief of just a few days as the long queues were back in swing with no end to it in sight as the authorities kept quiet — until on Tuesday when Vice-President Michael Usi, in his capacity as Public Service Delivery, acted.

He convened a high-level meeting with key stakeholders in the fuel sector; Ministry of Energy, NOCMA, MERA and the Public Procurement & Disposal of Assets Authority (PPDA), in which he sought to understand the challenges hindering the normalisation of the fuel supply.

Matola at the meeting with Usi

From the meeting, Energy Minister Matola reported that Usi expressed his deep frustration over inefficiencies within the Ministry and other players in the fuel sector and as a result, the Vice-President gave the Ministry and its technical teams a firm deadline of Thursday afternoon, February 6, 2025, to present a comprehensive report on the situation.

According to the official government Facebook page, the Minister said the report that Usi needed was to detail the specific reasons behind the delays in transporting 31 million litres of fuel still at Tanga Port in Tanzania and outline concrete measures to prevent further supply chain disruptions.

Matola was further quoted as saying the Vice-President emphasised that ensuring a stable and reliable fuel supply is a top priority for his office, and that inefficiencies and deliberate delays will not be tolerated.

After the second meeting held yesterday, Vice-President Usi is reported to have described it as a fruitful discussion, saying: “We had a list of suggested solutions that the stakeholders brought forward, and after rigorous discussions we have landed on one solution.

“I am satisfied with the results of the meeting, and implementation of this solution is effective,” Usi is quoted as saying, while assuring Malawians that the government is not turning a blind eye to the fuel crisis.

“We need fuel in Malawi, and we need to ensure its inflow is not disrupted. We are aware that there are issues and when they arise, we will discuss and find solutions.”

MERA consumer affairs & public relations manager, Fitina Khonje is quoted as saying the stakeholders would comply with the presidential directive and emphasised the sector’s willingness to step up its efforts to navigate the logistical challenges being faced.

But all these seem to be just rhetoric and from public observation, while President Chakwera might have the goodwill to end the fuel crisis, the technocrats’ hands on the ground seem to be tied because of many other factors which need to be judiciously addressed first.

President Chakwera in Abu Dhabi last December

These include what President Chakwera attributed to when he constituted the Coordinating Committee last November, saying the fuel queues — that was in its 6th week then — was created due to a 10-day fuel imports suspension.

He explained that as a nation, the monthly fuel demand is at an average of US$50 million per month, which is used by two main fuel importers, NOCMA and Petroleum Importers Limited (PIL).

He had said: “Unfortunately, through no fault of their own, the rate at which we as a country generate foreign exchange has not kept pace with the growing demand for fuel, making these two importers unable to raise enough forex from the market to import the required volumes of fuel.

“For instance, in the month of August, NOCMA only raised US$23 million of the required forex, while in September and October, that number fell below US$20 million — increasing NOCMA’s debt to suppliers to US$72 million in October and resulting in a 10-day suspension in NOCMA’s access to fuel imports.

“It is this 10-day suspension that created the fuel queues over the past six weeks, forcing many of you to suffer long days and nights at fuel stations, as well as disruptions to your lives, work, and businesses.”

The President further directed the Treasury to engage with the country’s development partner, BADEA, who responded by providing a US$50 million revolving credit facility and he also engaged the Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) to ramp up efforts to access more foreign exchange through commercial banks.

He also reported that the measures were only a short term solution, saying: “The challenge that NOCMA and PIL face to access forex from the market in the Open Tender System we use as a country to import fuel, has resulted in fuel supply disruptions at different times in the past 20 years.

“And it is time for us to take a different approach,” he said, while announcing that his administration has embarked on the process of transitioning Malawi from the Open Tender System for procuring fuel to a G-to-G arrangement — “to make access to fuel more secure through better payment terms and cycles”.

The Coordinating Committee, chaired by the Minister of Energy Matola, included as its members Ministers of Finance, Trade & Industry, Justice, Foreign Affairs, Cabinet Secretary, RBM Governor, the Attorney General, the Director General of the Procurement Authority, and the chief executive officers of NOCMA and MERA.

The committee is supposed to be supported by a technical committee of technocrats from the respective Ministries, and President Chakwera announced to the nation that they all had his “instructions to work with speed to secure the first G-to-G agreements”.

Which was indeed secured and when Matola announced the first supply arriving at Tanga Port as well as the first 100 tankers at Songwe Border, the country breathed a huge sigh of relief — but it’s been several weeks later with pumps still been dry and queues getting even longer.

Who is really to blame? Who is not doing their work diligently? What is the root cause of the problem that should lead the price of a golf ball-sized tomato to be at an average of K700?

Veep Usi gave hope on Tuesday when he seemed to have taken the bull by its horns by tasking Ministry of Energy, NOCMA, MERA and PPDA to find solutions to the fuel crisis within a 48-hour time frame, as mandated by his boss, President Chakwera.

But come the day of the deadline, he does not indicate specific solutions that are being undertaken by just saying that yesterday’s meeting settled on one solution, which he believes its implementation will be “effective”.

It’s almost the same assurance that the public received from the President in November when he constituted the Coordinating Committee headed by Matola and while things seemed to be headed the right direction, it was back to business as usual of long queues to the filling pumps.

We are now in another chapter, that of Vice-President Michael Usi — waiting to see if the fuel supply will indeed normalise following his intervention.

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