- Zambia is delaying the return of open access to its main fuel-import pipeline until January, despite IMF pressure for a faster restoration.
- The Tazama pipeline, critical for delivering fuel from Tanzania to Zambia’s copper region, will remain under exclusive control for now.
- Earlier plans to allow companies to pre-qualify for diesel supply this October will be postponed due to the new timeline.
- The exclusive access arrangement with global fuel giant Vitol was a temporary emergency response to international energy disruptions caused by conflict.
Zambia is pushing back the return of open access to its main fuel-import pipeline until January, months after the International Monetary Fund called for the system to be restored.
Ephraim Munshifwa, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Energy, said the government expects to resume open access by January, adding that preparations are already underway, Bloomberg reported.
“By January, we resume open access,” Munshifwa said.
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The Tazama pipeline runs from the Tanzanian port of Dar es Salaam to Zambia’s copper-producing region and is a critical route for bringing fuel into the landlocked country.
Tazama had previously asked companies to pre-qualify to supply diesel through the pipeline from October. The latest timeline means that plan will now take longer to materialise.
Zambia suspended open access earlier this year as the war involving Iran disrupted global energy supplies. The government subsequently signed an agreement with Vitol Group, the world’s largest commodity trader, giving it exclusive access to the pipeline.
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Officials described the arrangement as a temporary emergency measure aimed at protecting fuel supplies. The government had said it would eventually return to a competitive system in which multiple suppliers could use the pipeline.
The IMF had also pressed Zambia to restore open access as soon as possible.
Tazama is already preparing for the change. Earlier this month, the pipeline operator extended the deadline for companies seeking to pre-qualify to use the system by two weeks to September 22.
The return to open access in January would allow multiple suppliers to compete for space on the pipeline, ending the current exclusive arrangement and reopening the route to a broader pool of fuel importers.
