Tanzania’s push for clean energy hinges on $1 billion LPG investment
Tanzania, with over 60 million people, still lags behind in LPG infrastructure and consumption. PHOTO | COURTESY
What you need to know:
- LPG sector remains largely underdeveloped despite its significant investment potential.
Dar es Salaam. Tanzania requires more than $1 billion over the next decade to fully exploit its Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) potential and accelerate the country’s transition to clean energy, stakeholders in the business and finance sectors have said.
Speaking during the launch of a new digital platform, the Rapid Payment Application (Ripa), the managing director of Oryx Energies Tanzania, Mr Kalpesh Mehta, said the LPG sector remains largely underdeveloped despite its significant investment potential.
“There is a huge opportunity for private sector involvement, but real progress requires large-scale investment and innovation,” Mr Mehta said on Tuesday.
Drawing a comparison with Indonesia, he said while the Southeast Asian nation has a population of 218 million, Tanzania, with over 60 million people, still lags behind in LPG infrastructure and consumption.
“Currently, we have just two LPG import terminals—Dar es Salaam and Tanga—handling only 16,000 metric tonnes. We need to expand and ensure Tanga also has its own full-fledged LPG terminal,” he said.
He added that to reach Indonesia’s LPG usage levels, Tanzania would require more than $1 billion in investment over the next 10 years.
Such investment, he said, would deliver substantial economic, environmental, and social benefits for the country.
At the same event, Ramani Company Limited’s Chief Operating Officer, Mr Joel Usiri, said the firm’s new Ripa platform aims to ease business operations for LPG distributors and wholesalers by improving access to finance and digital services.
“Since launching operations, we’ve disbursed Sh700 billion across sectors such as gas, agriculture, and manufacturing,” he said. To qualify as a distributor, applicants must be registered businesses with valid licenses and tax clearance certificates.
Mr Usiri said the new application was developed after observing that many traders, although able to purchase goods in bulk, lacked both the capital and technology to expand their operations.
“Access to capital remains a key challenge for many entrepreneurs,” he noted.
Ramani client Ms Ummy Asharf shared her experience, stating the company’s credit facilities had played a vital role in supporting her business growth. “They gave us the products on credit, and we pay back in small instalments,” she said, adding that the digital platform allows real-time tracking of deliveries.
