Malawians will have to wait a little longer for stable fuel supply as industry players say the situation is likely to normalise between this weekend and next Thursday.
Diesel is in steady supply from the Nacala Port in Mozambique, but petrol availability is erratic due to hazy supply from Tanga Port in Tanzania.
Malawi is waiting for 50 million litres of fuel under the Government to Government (G2G) arrangement comprising 28 million litres of petrol and 22 million litres of diesel through Tanga.
The fuel, all bought from OQT company of Oman, marks the first consignment of real G2G fuel purchase for Malawi as it comes directly from companies that extract and process fuel.
However, days have culminated into weeks after discharge of fuel, especially petrol while Malawians on the ground are experiencing long queues.
Transporters Association of Malawi (TAM) spokesperson Frank Banda in an interview yesterday said the situation on petrol was worsened by delays to get clearance in Tanzania, but added that 400 trucks have so far loaded.
He said: “We had delays with discharging the fuel at Tanga, then clearance delays followed. But that is all done. We loaded 400 trucks, both from Malawi and Tanzania. They were released last Friday.
“These trucks started getting into Malawi on Sunday, but we expect that all the trucks will be in Malawi by Thursday next week, that’s when we should expect the situation to normalise.”
A private sector source confided in The Nation yesterday that the fuel situation may normalise by this weekend.
“Some money has been provided and we hope that by Wednesday, the situation may normalise for towns, but we should expect that normalcy may return by weekend, we are trying really hard,” said the source.
National Oil Company of Malawi (Nocma) spokesperson Raymond Likambale said by midday yesterday, over 150 fuel tankers had crossed into Malawi via the Songwe Border Post in Karonga.
He said: “This marks significant progress in reinforcing domestic supply, particularly in the face of ongoing challenges.
“It is also critical to note that while attention has largely focused on petrol, we have continued to receive consistent fuel deliveries by rail through Nacala. Unfortunately, these efforts have gone largely unnoticed, despite their importance in supporting our broader energy needs.”
In The Nation edition of July 30 2025, Nocma indicated that the situation would normalise by last Friday. However, long queues of desperate motorists continue to be a common sight.
Likambale said Nocma has secured several commitments and that trucks would be loaded over weekends.
The fuel deals signed with the OQT Company of Oman and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) mark the first ever real G2G fuel purchase for Malawi.
It is different from last year’s arrangement where Malawi procured about 51.5 million litres of a combined cargo of diesel and petrol from Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates under the Kenya Government bilateral arrangement.
Nocma and Petroleum Importers Limited are each supposed to import 50 percent of the country’s required volumes, but Nocma has of late been importing about 80 percent of total stocks
Nocma data show that Malawi uses one million litres for petrol and 850 000 litres of diesel per day, translating to a combined 55.5 million litres a month.
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.
