Nigerian energy multinational Sahara Group believes that liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) is Africa’s most immediately available and scalable option for secure and reliable energy that is also clean.  The group reaffirmed this position at the recent African Refiners and Distributors Association (ARDA) conference, in Cape Town.

“Africa’s transition must be built around solutions that work now,” stated Sahara Group executive director Wale Ajibade. “LPG is not an interim compromise, it is the fastest bridge to energy access, resilience and shared prosperity for Africa.”

The ongoing crisis in the Middle East has again shown Africa’s vulnerability to external shocks, with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz sending oil prices soaring. It also disrupts LPG and liquefied natural gas supplies to the continent.

“For African economies, the lesson is clear: energy resilience is built through infrastructure that incorporates robust storage, shipping optionality, diversified sourcing and regional coordination,” he affirmed. “The continent must outgrow its dependency on fragile global routes.”

LPG is particularly suitable for addressing the clean cooking deficit in Africa. Almost one-billion Africans still lack access to clean cooking technologies. This has serious health and environmental effects. ARDA projects that LPG will in the future be responsible for more than 60% of clean cooking across the continent. It is accounting for 75% of the clean cooking transitions currently taking place in Africa.

Currently, Africa is responsible for just 4% of LPG consumption, worldwide. Expert opinion is that the continent’s problem is lack of delivery systems, and not lack of demand. It is necessary to create a solid LPG infrastructure. Doing that, in turn, will require regional collaboration, such as the harmonisation of cylinder standards and LPG import duties. It will also need bankable storage and distribution projects, blended finance models, targeted incentives to encourage households to adopt LPG, and data-driven monitoring of the progress being made in the adoption of clean cooking technologies.

“Over the past decade, Sahara Group has pursued a deliberate, integrated LPG strategy spanning trading, shipping, storage and last-mile distribution,” he reported. “Working alongside its partners, Sahara has delivered over six-million cubic metres of LPG across West Africa since 2017, supported by a growing fleet of LPG carriers and expanding storage capacity.”