‘Fuel reserves ready January’
The construction of three fuel reserves across the country is expected to be complete by January next year, the National Oil Company of Malawi (Nocma) has said.
Government, with a loan from the Indian government worth $26 million (approximately K12 billion), is constructing fuel reserves in all the three regions of the country, with capacity of 10 million litres in the North, 25 million litres in the Centre and another 25 million litres in the South, adding up to 60 million litres once complete.
“The plan is that the Lilongwe one should be ready by January for commissioning and Mzuzu one in February, all things remaining the same and lastly Blantyre one in March, but all will depend on the inflow of construction materials and availability of water supply to the project sites,” said Nocma chief executive officer Robert Mdeza on Friday.
He was speaking to Lilongwe-based business journalists who toured the project sites at Kanengo in Lilongwe and Chipoka in Salima.
Currently, the country has about 15 days fuel cover, but southern Africa regional standards require countries like Malawi that are not connected to the sea to have 90 days of fuel storage cover.
