During a tour at the National Oil Company of Malawi (Nocma) strategic fuel reserves at Matindi, the ministry of energy announced that in the next 5 years, strategic oil reserves will be boosted from 60 days to 180 days.

The news follows as some neighboring countries’ borders remain closed, therefore slowing down entry of fuel in the country and overall affecting the availability of it in the country. Boosting the reserves would ensure that Malawi operates without stakeholders worrying of fuel shortages. The call to boost the reserves also follows 3 months after the first cases of coronavirus were registered in Malawi, as stakeholders worried that the pandemic may curb fuel availability in the country. In response, the Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority (Mera) announced that it had reserves of up to 2.5 months, according to Mera Chief Executive Officer, Collins Magalasi. As the said period has ended, some neighboring countries have eased border restrictions, allowing various commodities to enter, but the Minister of Energy Newton Kambala alerted that Nocma’s 60 days of fuel reserves is not enough. “I am not comfortable to see that we are having reserves of about 60 days of fuel. We need to increase our fuel capacity.” said the minister.

Kambala also noted that the boost will be a pricey development but worthwhile altogether. “It [increasing fuel capacity] will require huge investments, but we need to have that kind of ambition. One of these days we may have problems moving fuel from the ports and 60 days is too short a period.”

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) requires all member States to have 90 million litres of fuel reserve capacity.