The cost of liquified petroleum gas (LPG) imports – an important source of cooking fuel in parts of Africa – have surged by 90% in East Africa and 70% in West Africa as the closure of the Strait of Hormuz heads for a third month, according to the International Energy Agency.
Marina Petrelli, Africa energy analyst at the IEA, says the price surge in Africa is largely the result of a global supply-demand imbalance, rather than physical constraints on supplies to the continent. While the continent itself sources little LPG from the Gulf, countries that usually source their supply from the region are having to look for the alternative suppliers from which African countries buy. This forces costs up across the board.
“We estimate that only 5% of the LPG imported in sub-Saharan Africa comes from the Middle East,” she says. “On the continental level the impact on supply is limited, although certain countries and regions may be more acutely impacted,” Petrelli says.
Petrelli says the price surge is forcing LPG users in East Africa to spend an additional 5% of their income on cooking compared to before the crisis.
So far, West Africa, which sources much of its LPG supply from domestic producers as well as imports from the United States, has been less exposed than the east of the continent.
