Tag Archives: Malawi Energy Regularly Authority (Mera)

Business, Malawi

Chakwera Tonse Govt hikes electricity tariff by 50.8%

Dorica Mtenje

LILONGWE-(MaraviPost)-Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority (MERA) has authorized the Electricity Supply of Malawi(ESCOM) a four year-based tariff hike from K104.46/kWh to K157.50/kWh effective today, Friday, September 1, 2023.

Addressing a media conference in Lilongwe on Friday, MERA Chief Executive Officer, Henry Kachaje said the first phase Escom tariff will be 18 percent followed by 16 percent then 12 percent, and 9 percent in 2027.

Kachanje said MERA will be monitoring ESCOM services before authorizing the set tariffs failure which the regulator will have power to stop ESCOM from hiking the tariffs.

Kachanje said the revised electricity base tariff application by ESCOM was submitted to MERA in April 2023 with a requested tariff increase of 69.7% down from 99.9%

However, the fourth electricity base tariff will cover the period from September 2023 to August 2027.

“An electricity base tariff is granted to utilities to enable them to finance short to medium-term investments, operations, maintenance of power infrastructure
for improved and sustainable service delivery,” said Kachaje.

He therefore said to ensure smooth implementation of the 2023-2027 base tariff.

The Authority will also intensify monitoring of ESCOM’s performance based on the agreed Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).

Business, Malawi

Malawi fuel crisis resurfaces as Mera lives in denial

Maravi Post Reporter
Fuel crisis resumes in Malawi

LILONGWE-(MaraviPost)-Malawi fuel crisis has resurfaced barely weeks after most filling stations had the commodity.

The Maravi Post snapshot survey in the capital Lilongwe on Monday evening through Tuesday, December 13, 2022 witnessed long queues of motorists.

Not only Lilongwe but also Limbe in Blantyre, motorists have been scrambling for fuel.

But Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority (MERA) has trashed the development arguing that is just social media rumor.

This is despite motorists in Lilongwe last night were queuing up to fill their tanks in anticipation to the rumored fuel crisis.

MERA statement on Tuesday assured the public that the country is recovering from “fuel supply chain disruptions caused from forex exchange challenges.”

According to the statement, the country has 15 days combined internal stock cover of diesel and petrol available for distribution.

MERA pointed out that this is an improvement from the six days stock cover position on November 5, 2022.

“In addition, fuel stocks equivalent to fourteen days cover are in transit,” read the statement.

MERA has since asked the general public to stop panicking buy buying fuel for reserves saying that this may distort fuel consumption “and erode progress made so far towards stabilizing the flow of fuel supplies.”

Malawi has been struggling with forex despite President Lazarus Chakwera on global trotting.

Chakwera is currently in Washington for USA-Africa leaders Summit.

Business, Malawi

Chakwera’s doomed Tonse: Fuel shortages in Malawi blamed on Truck driver strike

Maravi Post Reporter

LILONGWE-(MaraviPost)-Filling stations across the country have run out of fuel amid a strike by truck drivers and fuel transporters.

Reports show that filling stations in Dedza and Mangochi have been closed due to lack of fuel.

Snap shot visit at various filling stations on Wednesday, September 29, 2021 revealed that people in Lilongwe and Blantyre have also reported finding difficulties in accessing fuel.

Lilongwe residents Wednesday evening had to be on long queues at several filling stations in the city as people struggled to access the liquid.

Currently, truck drivers are on strike, demanding salary increment from their employees and want government to intervene.

Truck owners under Transporters Association of Malawi and Fuel Transporters Association of Malawi on Wednesday also parked their vehicles saying government should stop giving the majority of contracts to foreign companies.

Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority (MERA) meanwhile has admitted that there are fuel stockouts in filling stations caused by the drivers’ strike.

According to MERA, authorities are making every effort to address the fuel stockouts

The regulatory authority has, however, said the country has sufficient stocks with a total of 22 million and 32 million litres of petrol and diesel, respectively.

The volumes translate into 28-days stock cover and 54-days stock cover for petrol and diesel, respectively.

“MERA therefore would like to appeal to the general public to refrain from panic buying of fuel. Furthermore, fuel retail stations are reminded that hoarding of fuel is prohibited and MERA will apply stiff penalties to any retail station found to engage in such malpractice,” reads the statement

The situation will remains till authorities resolve truck drivers strikers on pay hike demands.

President Lazarus Chakwera’s Tonse administration is yet to deliver meaningful promises to Malawians just a year in power.

Malawi

Malawi’s graft busting body stops NOCMA from awarding dodgy fuel contracts

Maneno Chimulala
Fuel reserve at Kanengo in Lilongwe

BLANTYRE-(MaraviPost)—The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has issued a restriction order to the National Oil Company of Malawi (NOCMA) on a fuel supply contract.

Principal Public Relations officer for the bureau, Egritta Ndala, has confirmed this in an interview with local media.

According to Ndala, the graft busting body has issued the notice following several complaints received alleging irregularities and suspected corruption surrounding the fuel procurement process.

Among the institutions that have recently asked ACB to investigate allegations of corruption and abuse of office in the procurement of fuel supply contracts by NOCMA is the Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC).

HRDC felt the award of fuel supply contracts to Lake Oil Limited, Dalbit International Limited and Camel Oil limited was “suspicious,” with strong likelihood of involvement of fraud and corruption.

There has been a tussle between energy regulator Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority (Mera) and Nocma, and in January the former had rejected an application by Nocma to allow it to award fuel contracts to two suppliers from a field of 23 applicants.

In a letter dated January 15 2021 to Nocma, which we had seen, Mera acting chief executive officer Ishmael Chioko wrote:  “I am therefore writing to inform Nocma that Mera has declined to approve Nocma’s application.”

Mera’s communication to Nocma meant that the latter could not proceed to seek a ‘No objection’ from the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Authority (PPDA) to award the two contracts for Nocma’s required supply of 314 830 metric tones (MT) of fuel for the whole 2020/21

Mera’s decline of the proposed awards comes two months after Minister of Energy Newton Kambala cancelled the tenders because Nocma did not have an executive management in place to execute such transactions.

IPG (Independent Petroleum Group) is a group of companies headquartered in Kuwait with worldwide operations in the trading and marketing of crude oil, liquid petroleum and gas (LPG), petrochemicals and fertilisers. In addition to this core activity, IPG has interests in terminalling, pipelines and shipping.

Lake Oil Limited is a Tanzania-based company also with operations in the trading and marketing of crude oil, LPG and petrochemicals.

Business, Malawi, Top News

Economic meltdown; Malawi’s fuel prices up by 5%

Lloyd M’bwana
LILONGWE-(MaraviPost)-The Malawi Energy Regularly Authority (Mera) on Friday night increased fuel prices effective Saturday October 6 2018.
The development is likely to push up cost of transport, cost of living, goods and services, further hurting poor families.
The authority announced in a statement that it had increased the pump price of petrol by 5.01 percent and diesel by 5.02 percent to reflect the rise in fuel prices on the international
market.
According to the new price structure, petrol from Saturday, October 6, is now selling atMK932.50 from K888.00 while diesel is to sell at K935.60 from K890.90 and paraffin will be sold at MK755.30 from MK719.30.
Mera chief executive officer Collins Magalasi said the increase will ensure there is enough resources to continue to import.
But motorists and public transport users are facing major economic headaches.
The knock-on effect will add to the pain with bus and taxi fares possibly going up too along with food prices.
The fuel price hike come as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission to Malawi has said the country’s general economic performance is on track .