A report by the Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority (Mera) on fuel stock levels shows that yesterday the country had petrol that lasted 1.6 days and diesel that lasted half a day.

In terms of volumes, National Fuel Stocks Report No. 498 nation Saw yesterday indicated that there were 1.463 million liters of petrol and about 391 000 liters (or 0.391 million litres) of diesel, which is critical in transporting goods in a country where road transport is dominant.

The report also shows that there is not much fuel flowing in the country.

As of yesterday, volumes in transit included 0.136 million diesel, equivalent to 0.3 days’ supply, and 3.801 million liters of gasoline, enough for just four days.

The National Petroleum Company of Malawi (Nocma), a major state player in the importation and supply of fuel in the country, yesterday said it was “trying hard” to normalize the situation.

In an interview yesterday, Nocma spokesperson Raymond Likambale said: “We are trying to bring in more volumes. All our suppliers still load at Beira in Mozambique and Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. I will need more time to get stock and actual arrivals.

“People are really working around the clock to ease the situation. For us, we load a lot from Dar es Salaam because there is underdeveloped infrastructure in Beira, which leads to major queues.”

On the recently renewed Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (Badea) facility of $50 million initially secured in November 2022, he said processes are underway to activate it.

Likambale said: “So for the Badea facility, it has been granted and our teams are working tirelessly to ensure that the fund benefits Malawians. As for how it works, I think those details will be shared later as time goes on.

“However, that facility has been granted and we are optimistic that volumes will continue to improve. All players in the sector are constantly engaged on how best to meet the challenge.”

But an oil industry source suggested that the Badea facility may not translate into an immediate relief in fuel supply, as Nocma owes three suppliers about $67 million for fuel supplied through open credit; therefore, the amount could go towards paying suppliers.

In a separate interview, another oil industry player said importers are facing an acute shortage of foreign exchange to pay suppliers.

The source said: “We have not been given the required amounts (of foreign exchange) to import and we are still struggling. The situation is that the banks are dry and the central bank is equally stuck.

“We are hopeful that we will find a solution soon, because if we don’t, we won’t even be able to send vehicles to collect the fuel. We are trying, but the stocks are not enough.”

On his part, the president of the Malawi Oil Marketers Association, Happy Jere, said the situation is getting tougher day by day as they have to pay rents, salaries for staff and it is even worse in rural areas.

“We’ve been in business for many years and we’ve seen it happen in 2012, between now and now. The solution is to have forex and reduce the appetite for imports. We have reached a point of hand-to-mouth situation,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Information and Digitization, Moses Kunkuyu, who last week promised that the fuel situation would normalize by last weekend, in an interview last night said the government has made some fuel payments.

He said: “So the government has paid that $21.5 million (about K37.6 billion) for fuel import and stocks are coming but the challenge is that we have panic buying because people are still anticipating stocks running out.”

According to the Mera report, 961,200 liters of gasoline and 172,700 liters of diesel were to be delivered yesterday.

The report also showed that out of 365 petrol stations nationwide, 343 were out of petrol while 291 were out of diesel.

A National Fuel Report for October, compiled by Mera, also showed that the crisis started from October 1, 2024, when the country had 4.9 days of petrol and 15 days of diesel.