The leadership journey that makes Puma Energy dominate Tanzania’s energy market

By Maliki Muunguja

Tanzania’s energy sector is entering a new phase, shaped by rising demand, global price volatility and a growing push towards cleaner and more affordable sources of energy.

At the centre of this transformation is Puma Energy Tanzania, which has maintained a market share of more than 15 percent and has been recognised by the Energy and Water Utilities Regulatory Authority (EWURA) as the country’s leading fuel player for four consecutive years.

Behind that record stands Madam Fatma M. Abdallah, Managing Director of Puma Energy Tanzania, a senior executive with more than two decades of leadership experience across the energy, banking, logistics and manufacturing sectors in Africa and the Middle East.

Before her current role, Fatma served as Advisor to the Head of Africa at Puma Energy International in Geneva, Switzerland, where she supported strategic initiatives across the company’s African business.

Under her leadership, Puma has expanded well beyond its core role as a fuel retailer. The company has invested in natural gas, cooking gas and, in February this year, launched Africa’s largest compressed natural gas mother station, an investment that signaled strong confidence in Tanzania’s economic future and in the government’s push toward cleaner energy.

From its growing retail footprint to its investment in compressed natural gas (CNG), liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and planned electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure, Puma is positioning itself beyond its traditional role as a petroleum company.

In this exclusive interview, The Citizen Managing Editor, Mpoki Thompson, sits down with Madam Fatma M. Abdallah, Managing Director of Puma Energy Tanzania, to discuss the company’s market leadership, its bet on locally available natural gas, and efforts to build local capacity while preparing for Tanzania’s evolving energy future. Excerpts………..

QUESTION: EWURA has ranked Puma Energy as Tanzania’s leading player for four consecutive years. What does this recognition mean to you personally and how does Puma Energy sustain this position?

ANSWER: This recognition is a proud achievement for Puma Energy and reflects our consistent commitment to excellence. Our sustained leadership has been built on customer trust, operational excellence, uncompromising safety standards, and reliability.

At the heart of this success is a strong and dedicated team that works every day to meet our customers’ expectations. Our customers remain at the centre of everything we do; we continuously listen, innovate, and improve our products and services in response to their evolving needs.

Ultimately, our leadership position is not defined by recognition alone, but by the trust we have earned and the value we continue to deliver to our customers and to Tanzania.

With over 15 percent market share, what defines your leadership for the common Tanzanian?

It is a combination of scale, reliability and extreme customer centricity. We operate more than 100 retail stations across Tanzania, offering a diversified portfolio of energy solutions to serve customers with varying requirements, from lubricants and cooking gas known as PUMAGAS, to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) for vehicles and industries, to retail shop outlets “Shop Express”.

To set ourselves apart, we recently launched “Puma Pris,” a unique loyalty programme. Customers earn points on any product purchase and redeem them for free fuel, convenience store items or quick-service restaurant (QSR) products across our network.

What does Puma Energy TZ do to maintain this stronghold?

Customer needs and expectations continue to evolve, and we make it a priority to listen and respond. We have QR codes across our sites that allow customers to provide direct feedback on their experience.

This feedback is analysed through our monthly Net Promoter Score (NPS) reports, with particular attention given to detractors so that we can identify gaps, address concerns and continuously improve our service.

At the same time, we continuously train and develop our teams to ensure a consistent and seamless customer experience across our retail stations, convenience stores and quick-service restaurants (QSRs).

Our objective is simple: every customer should receive the same high standard of service whenever and wherever they interact with Puma Energy. Leadership is often measured by an organisation’s results.

Looking at Puma’s performance and this four-year recognition, what leadership lesson have you personally learned about building and sustaining a high-performing team?

Sustainable success does not come from one leader alone. It is built by people, institutional culture, accountability and consistency. Here at Puma Energy Tanzania, more than 99 percent of our staff are Tanzanian, and we invest heavily in safety, integrity, customer service and teamwork.

When I look back at these four years, what stands out to me is not the achievement of one individual, but the collective effort of every person at Puma.

In February, Puma Energy TZ commissioned the largest capacity CNG mother station in Africa. What made Tanzania the ideal market for this facility?

Tanzania has massive natural gas reserves, and we are currently the only country in Puma’s African network with CNG facilities. This project was a concept we deliberated on for three to four years, analysing the economics and investment costs.

We wanted to align with the government’s clean energy transition and utilise our abundant local natural gas to shield Tanzanians from foreign exchange risks and global fossil fuel price volatility.

While imported fossil fuel prices fluctuate constantly, local gas prices regulated by PURA and EWURA remain highly stable year-round. Transitioning can be slow.

Are Tanzanians embracing CNG, and is it commercially viable?

Our investment in CNG has been significant. In Phase I, we developed a major mother station, two retail CNG stations and one daughter station.

At present, utilisation remains below 20 percent, largely because CNG infrastructure has expanded faster than market demand and vehicle conversion. One of the challenges has been the misconception that converting a vehicle to CNG reduces its power and performance.

This is not necessarily the case when the correct conversion kits are used and the installation is carried out by trained technicians at certified conversion centres, such as the facility at our mother station. However, we are beginning to see positive momentum.

The Government’s recent fiscal measures, including tax relief on CNG-related equipment, are helping to reduce the cost of conversion and make CNG more accessible to motorists. More importantly, the economics are increasingly compelling.

Ride-hailing and commercial drivers, including Bolt and Bajaji operators, are reporting significant reductions in their fuel costs, enabling them to travel more kilometres at a much lower operating cost compared with conventional fuels. As awareness increases and conversion becomes more affordable, we expect CNG adoption and utilisation to grow significantly.

How does Puma Energy TZ balance being a global brand with local nuances?

While we operate to global standards, our solutions are firmly shaped by the needs and expectations of the local market. We combine international expertise and best practices with a strong understanding of our customers to deliver products and services that are relevant, practical and responsive to the needs of Tanzanian consumers and businesses.

Critics often accuse multinationals of failing to build local capacity. What is Puma Energy TZ’s approach to job creation and local talent?

At Puma Energy Tanzania, every employee except one is Tanzanian. We invest heavily in training our direct staff and our dealers’ station attendants.

When we expand, like opening our 100th station in Tabora, we recruit exclusively from the local community. Additionally, 99 per cent to 100 per cent of our vendors and contractors are local Tanzanian businesses.

What other energy avenues are you exploring, and what does the future hold?

Fossil fuels will remain essential for years, but we are committed to meeting our ESG goals. This includes expanding “Puma Gas”, our LPG clean cooking solution launched in 2022, to more regions.

We are also actively exploring Electric Vehicle (EV) charging stations across our network, with plans to roll them out in the coming months.

Our long-term goal is to double our retail network from the current 100-plus stations, expanding deeply into underserved rural areas where mobility is rising.

In five years, we want Tanzanians to judge our success not by our infrastructure or financial returns, but by our tangible contribution to individual lives, job creation and sustainable energy access.