Parliamentarians raise concern over LPG scarcity

The Parliamentary Committee on Natural Resources, Energy and Climate Change has expressed concern over the scarcity of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) in the country, saying the situation is increasing pressure on Malawians to rely on charcoal and electricity for cooking.

Committee chairperson Tione Hendry raised the concern on Friday when officials from the Ministry of Energy and the Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority (MERA) appeared before the committee.

Hendry said the shortage demonstrates that Malawi still has a long way to go in promoting LPG as an alternative clean cooking fuel.

She urged the government to pay more attention to LPG, describing it as a viable business opportunity that could be expanded nationwide.

“The LPG focus hasn’t been there because the people using LPG are few. As a country, maybe we haven’t looked at this enough, and MERA has also not put much interest in the business because they thought it was small,” Hendry said.

Hendry said the government must prioritise LPG importation as part of efforts to promote clean cooking.

Ministry of Energy Principal Secretary Elvis Thodi acknowledged that the scarcity of LPG is a major concern, saying the government wants to encourage Malawians to adopt cleaner cooking methods.

Thodi said the initiative is aimed at reducing dependence on biomass fuels such as firewood and charcoal, while also supporting Malawi’s commitments under the Paris Agreement on climate change.

He also urged Malawians to consider LPG as an alternative to electricity for cooking to ease pressure on the national power grid.

“It is in our interest that LPG is not scarce,” Thodi said.

He said the ministry, together with MERA, the Reserve Bank of Malawi and the Ministry of Finance, is working on measures to restore stability in the LPG market.

Thodi said foreign exchange shortages and the lack of strategic LPG reserves have contributed to the scarcity, adding that the Reserve Bank has pledged support with forex for LPG imports.

Hendry said the committee will soon meet LPG importers, the Ministry of Energy and NOCMA to discuss measures to address the shortage and ensure tangible action is taken.