Africa's clean cooking momentum could stall unless LPG supply constraints, logistical bottlenecks and limited climate funding are addressed, panellists said at the G20 Africa Energy Investment Forum in Johannesburg on 21 November.
Supply tightness caused by refinery outages and a fragmented transport network has constrained South Africa's LPG market despite its modest size of under 500,000 t/yr, according to state-owned PetroSA interim chief executive Sesakho Magadla.
Domestic LPG output almost halved to 123,000t in 2024 from 235,000t in 2020, Argus Consulting data show, following the closure of Engen's 105,000 b/d and Sapref's 180,000 b/d refineries near Durban. Reduced local production has left the sector more reliant on imports, which surged by more than 140pc from 2020 to 589,000t in 2024.
Restarting refineries, including PetroSA's 45,000 b/d gas-to-liquids plant at Mossel Bay, is a priority, Magadla said. The site has been idle since 2020 when offshore gas fields supplying feedstock were depleted. PetroSA aims to mobilise by 2026 to ease domestic supply pressure. The government is seeking new partners to revive the site, having initially selected Gazprombank's African subsidiary in 2023 as its preferred bidder. The country's new state-owned oil company SANPC is also working to restart the Sapref refinery in Durban.
PetroSA plans to improve rail links — particularly between Saldanha Bay and Mozambique — to ease congestion and move LPG at scale. Saldanha Bay hosts Sunrise Energy's 210,000 t/yr LPG import terminal and could soon be joined by state-owned Strategic Fuel Fund's planned 192,000 t/yr facility. The Western Cape province remains reliant on imports and faces chronic shortages during peak winter demand.
Africa urgently needs infrastructure capable of handling higher volumes, including terminals that can receive very large gas carriers (VLGCs), LPG trader Petredec's head of communications Tamsin Donaldson said. Governments should also streamline permitting to accelerate project timelines.
Petredec recently announced plans for an LPG terminal in Tanga, Tanzania, with 23,600t of storage. Poor logistics and limited import capacity add a 10–20pc premium to LPG costs as companies rely on smaller pressurised cargoes and terminals, according to the IEA.
Progress has stalled due to a lack of funding, panellists said. Green finance mechanisms remain underused because investors lack data to quantify emissions reductions and energy savings from clean-cooking projects, South African National Energy Development Institute chief executive Titus Mathe said. He called for an Africa-wide clean-cooking data platform and an LPG financing facility backed by the AU, G20 and global institutions.
"We have to put carbon credits as part of the LPG discussion," African Refiners and Distributors Association executive secretary Anibor Kragha said.
Clean cookstoves qualify for credits, but LPG does not. While countries such as Kenya have accelerated LPG uptake through subsidies, this approach is not sustainable, Kragha said.
