LPG cheaper in Tanzania than Kenya and Uganda, says minister

Dar es Salaam. At least 2.5 million Tanzanians are currently using a Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) as cooking energy, a Minister of Energy Dr Medard Kalemani said on Tuesday June 25.

The minister said more companies have invested in LPG in the country leading to competition among suppliers; as a result, Tanzanian LPG is cheaper compared to Kenya and Uganda.

He said, a kilogram of LPG is currently sold at Sh3080 in Tanzania compared to Sh3500 and Sh4100 in Kenya and Uganda, respectively.

Yet, the number of users of LPG continues to rise in the country—an increase from less than one million users in 2015.

“In 2015, there was only one supplier of LPG in the country, but we currently have eight of them. This made it easier to consumers in accessing the source of energy at a cheap price,” he noted.

He said the country is currently importing 617, 000 tons of LPG, compared to 220, 000 in 2015; an increase of 244 per cent.

“Taifa Gas Ltd alone stores 7560 tons of LPG, the largest reserve capacity in East and Sub-Saharan counties followed by South Africa (5200 tons) and Morocco (5077 tons),” he said.

So far, according to him, more than 12, 000 Tanzanians have employed in the eight LPG supplying companies.

“We (the government) is currently discussing with the private sector to see how we can together upgrade this sector and generate more revenues from it,” he said.