The Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) has granted Taifa Gas the licence to set up a cooking gas plant and storage facilities at the Mombasa port, avoiding a potential trade spat between the two East African countries.
The company, owned by Tanzanian business magnate Rostam Aziz, is expected to bring healthy competition to the gas industry in Kenya, given its lower prices.
“Yes, we have already issued them with the licence to build the plant,” Epra Director-General Daniel Kiptoo told the Business Daily on Wednesday.
The entry of Taifa Gas into Kenya is part of a trade deal agreed upon by Kenya’s former President Uhuru Kenyatta and Tanzania’s Samia Suluhu in 2021
Taifa Gas is the largest LPG supply company in Tanzania and has been feeding the Kenyan retail market via road.
The company is expected to build the 30,000-tonne Kenya facility at the Special Economic Zone in Dongo Kundu, near the port of Mombasa, which is expected to cut the cost of handling and evacuating cooking gas from the ships to the mainland, allowing dealers to transfer the cost reliefs to consumers
Currently, LPG prices have hit new highs, with the 13-kilogramme container retailing at an average price of KES 3,266 in Nairobi, while the six-kilogramme one has crossed KES 2,000.
Read also; EPRA Hints at Granting Taifa Gas Licence to Operate in Kenya.