Transporters Association of Malawi says it expects fuel supply to normalise by late next week based on volumes in transit to Malawi.
The hauliers said the consignment is different from that purchased under Government to Government (G-2-G) deal between Malawi and Kenya.
In an interview yesterday, the association’s spokesperson Frank Banda attributed the worsening availability of fuel to delays by the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) to clear 60 trucks carrying about 2.4 million litres of diesel and petrol.
He said the clearance delays, which started on December 23 2024, were caused by the Christmas and New Year holidays, but indicated that as of Monday, the process had resumed and that some transporters were already on the way.
“The clearance delays had been there even during previous holidays but we could not feel the impact because we had adequate stocks and that is not the case now. Once the trucks arrive, fuel supply should start to stabilise over the weekend,” said Banda.
He also said 100 trucks ferrying fuel from Tanga Port to Dar es Salaam in Tanzania under the G-2-G deal were in transit and hoped that the transporters would arrive in Malawi by the end of next week.
National Oil Company of Malawi spokesperson Raymond Likambale said in a separate interview that their suppliers continue to load fuel in Mozambique and Tanzania.
“Currently, 12 520 000 litres of petrol and 10 250 000 litres of diesel are being loaded onto tankers in Mozambique and Tanzania. We also have 3 551 000 litres of petrol and 881 000 litres of diesel in transit,” he said.
Likambale could not state when the fuel supply would normalise and referred the matter to Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority (Mera).
Mera consumer affairs officer Vitumbiko Sakala was yet to respond to our questionnaire by press time yesterday.
The assurance comes as fuel scarcity persists nationwide with motorists, including public transport operators forced to park their vehicles at service stations.
On Saturday, government said it had bought 40 000 metric tonnes (about 51.5 million litres) of diesel and petrol from Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE) under a G-2-G arrangement that President Lazarus Chakwera announced last November.
In a statement, Minister of Energy Ibrahim Matola said the fuel has been procured under a bilateral arrangement between Kenya’s existing G-2-G arrangement with Abu Dhabi and Malawi.
Pres i d ent Chakwera announced the shift to a G-2-G fuel procurement method last November ostensibly to cut out middlemen, eliminate potential corruption along the supply chain and ease pressure on foreign currency externalisation through longer payment periods for fuel supplied.
At least 70 percent of fuel imports come through Mozambique’s ports with Beira processing 50 percent and Nacala facilitating 20 percent while the remaining 30 percent is hauled through the port of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania.
Nocma data show that Malawi uses 1.05 million litres each of diesel and petrol per day.
The country spends $600 million (about K1 trillion) on fuel importation per year, according to the Reserve Bank of Malawi.
In total, the country needs $3 billion to meet its import requirements.
