Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority (Mera) yesterday failed to state with certainty when the nation should expect stability in availability of fuel as the crisis drifts into week four.
Previously, the fuel scarcity was more pronounced with petrol, but this week diesel, a key facilitator of the supply and distribution chain in a country where road transport remains dominant, also became scarce.
Briefing the media in Blantyre yesterday, Mera chief executive officer Henry Kachaje said the regulator and players in the energy sector were working on doubling fuel imports to restore petrol and diesel stocks “within the shortest possible period”.
He said in a normal scenario 1.2 million litres of each product is distributed on a daily basis and the target is to bring more petrol and diesel by train to supplement volumes hauled by road.
Said Kachaje: “Our plan is to double those volumes and we are working with the National Oil Company of Malawi [Nocma] and Petroleum Importers Limited [PIL] to negotiate and put in place logistical infrastructure that would allow the supply of fuel into the country at a faster rate.”
He said while a road tanker hauls 36 000 litres, a single train with 30 tankers carries about 1.2 million litres.
Kachaje said Mera is targeting to have a single train loading 50 tanks from Mozambique, translating to about two million litres of fuel.
On the $75 million (about K130 billion ) that State-owned Nocma owes suppliers for fuel supplied on open credit, he said they have used $50 million (about K87 billion) secured from Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (Badea) and funds from local banks to pay back a huge chunk of the loan.
“With the loan balance reduced, we expect that the suppliers will now be supplying us with fuel in higher volumes. We are also working to raise more forex so that we should not have fuel challenges during the Christmas period,” he said.
Malawi requires $600 million (about K1.05 trillion) per year and $50 million per month for fuel, according to Kachaje
However, due to foreign exchange challenges the country has been facing, suppliers suspended fuel deliveries for 10 days, leading to drying up of fuel reserves.
For three weeks and counting now, long queues of motorcycles and motor vehicles have been a common sight at service stations nationwide.
On October 23 2024, Kachaje told a news conference in Lilongwe that the fuel situation would normalise by the end of last week, but this did not happen.
Yesterday, he apologised to Malawians for the failure to fulfill the promise, saying this was due to logistical issues and delays in payments.
On the other hand, Kachaje expressed concern about the conduct of some people buying fuel from service stations and reselling it at higher prices on the parallel market, saying the conduct is derailing efforts to replenish fuel stocks in filling stations.
While a litre of petrol goes at K2 530 at the pump, traders on the parallel market have been offering the same at about K6 000. Diesel fetches K2 734 per litres at the pump.
Meanwhile, the Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) has expressed concern that the fuel crisis is triggering a rise in costs for transportation and essential goods such food, cooking oil, salt and medical supplies.
In a statement yesterday, HRDC chairperson Gift Trapence called on President Lazarus Chakwera to address the nation “directly and honestly” about the fuel crisis, saying the nation deserves to know when this crisis will end
Reads the statement: “We urge the President to take decisive action and address the nation with a clear, accountable, and urgent plan to resolve this crisis. Anything less is a disservice to the people he was elected to serve.”
The fuel crisis had been brewing since October 1 2024 when the country had stocks covering 4.9 days for petrol and 15 days for diesel.
By Tuesday this week, the country had an equivalent of two days stock of petrol and half day for diesel.
Mera has maintained the fuel price at K2 530 per litre for petrol and K2 734 per litre for diesel since November 2023 but before the current crisis there were calls for the authority to raise prices to avoid stock-outs.
In August, The Nation reported that Mera’s indecision on fuel prices had led to K785 billion losses for petroleum importers which the authority was required to pay as compensation.
