Sahara: LPG Africa’s Fastest Path to Energy Access, Security
Peter Uzoho
As Africa grapples with widening energy access gaps and heightened global supply volatility, Sahara Group has said Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) is emerging as the continent’s most immediate and scalable bridge to clean, reliable, and secure energy.
This position took centre stage at the African Refiners & Distributors Association (ARDA) 2026 Leadership Side Chat and Roundtable, where Sahara Group made a compelling case for LPG as a practical transition fuel uniquely suited to Africa’s development realities.
“Africa’s transition must be built around solutions that work now,” Ajibade said. “LPG is not an interim compromise, it is the fastest bridge to energy access, resilience and shared prosperity for Africa”, Executive Director at Sahara Group, Wale Ajibade, stated.
He said recent global supply disruptions have laid bare Africa’s exposure to external shocks, citing the impact of the crisis at the Strait of Hormuz which pushed Brent crude prices above $110 per barrel, severely affecting LPG and LNG flows to Africa.
“For African economies, the lesson is clear: energy resilience is built through infrastructure that incorporates robust storage, shipping optionality, diversified sourcing and regional coordination. The continent must outgrow its dependency on fragile global routes,” Ajibade said.
He noted that the clean cooking deficit on the continent, where nearly one billion people in sub‑Saharan Africa still lack access to clean cooking solutions can be addressed with “collaborative, harmonised policies, and investment driven continent-wide adoption of LPG.”
This position aligns with ARDA projections that over 60 per cent of future clean cooking access in Africa will be delivered through LPG, which already accounts for 75 per cent of recent clean cooking transitions across the region.
In addition, despite accounting for just 4 per cent of global LPG consumption, experts say Africa’s constraint is not demand but delivery systems which can best be driven by solid LPG infrastructure.
