The government is working on new regulations to liberalise fuel importation. This will allow holders of free funds to import fuel into the country.
Current regulations under Statutory Instrument 122 of 2017 stipulates that only companies licensed in terms of Section 29 of the Petroleum Act are allowed to import fuel.
Speaking to State media recently, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Energy and Power Development Engineer Gloria Magombo said:
This is something that is being considered and we should be making an announcement soon.
We are still looking at the modalities; that is the process of how that (deregulating fuel importation) can be done. Obviously, we already have licensed operators who we think will have to lead the process of procurement.
We will be looking at allowing, for example, mining companies who have their own foreign currency and need fuel for their operations.
I think it’s an issue Government wants to open up and see what are the opportunities for synergies with those who have free funds to be able to import for own consumption. We are looking at people who want to import for own consumption.