Africa faces losing a critical chance to deliver clean cooking energy unless governments and investors quickly address financing, transport, and regulatory obstacles, industry leaders warned Friday at the G20 Africa Energy Investment Forum in Johannesburg.
Executives said the continent’s delayed shift from wood, charcoal, and kerosene to liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) remains hindered by fragmented infrastructure, offline refineries, and limited access to climate finance.
In South Africa, LPG demand sits just below 500,000 metric tons, yet supply is constrained by offline refineries and a patchwork transport network, according to Sesakho Magadla, acting chief executive officer of PetroSA. She told the forum that efforts to bring the Gas to Liquids refinery in Mossel Bay back online by 2026 are a priority, alongside proposed rail upgrades linking Saldanha Bay to Mozambique to ease congestion.
Private sector operators echoed the call for transport reform. Tamsin Rankin Donaldson, head of marketing and communications at Petredec, said limited terminal capacity and poor logistics add a 10 to 20 percent premium to LPG costs. Petredec is building a new terminal in Tanga, Tanzania, and exploring rail links from Richards Bay to inland markets in South Africa. Rankin Donaldson emphasized that governments must streamline permitting processes to accelerate such projects.
Financing remains a critical barrier. Titus Mathe, chief executive officer of the South African National Energy Development Institute, said investors lack reliable data to quantify emissions reductions from clean cooking. He proposed a continent wide LPG financing facility backed by the African Union, G20, and global institutions to reach last mile users.
Carbon credit rules also pose challenges. Anibor Kragha, executive secretary of the African Refiners and Distributors Association, said LPG is largely excluded from emissions credit frameworks, while clean cookstoves qualify. Kragha noted this limits rapid scale up and argued that carbon credits must become part of the LPG discussion.
With over 900 million people living without access to clean cooking solutions in Africa, there lies a critical opportunity to expand reliable, affordable LPG solutions across the continent. The International Energy Agency shows that Africa will require 37 billion dollars cumulative investment to 2040 to achieve universal access to clean cooking.
While discussions focused on continent wide issues, Ghana provides a practical example of both progress and persistent gaps. About 37 percent of households now use LPG for cooking, with adoption concentrated in urban areas at over 50 percent, while rural communities lag around 15 percent. Despite government efforts to expand distribution, many households still face unreliable supply, underscoring the urgent need for infrastructure upgrades and supportive financing.
Industry voices at the forum stressed that achieving universal clean cooking by 2040 would require tens of millions of new connections annually, roughly seven times the current pace. Without rapid investments, Africa risks failing to deliver clean, affordable cooking energy to millions.
Source: newsghana.com.gh
