Local firms race to plug Southern Africa’s looming gas shortage

Gabaake Gabaake, executive director at Tlou Energy and minerals sector veteran, calls natural gas “probably one of the most widely used substances in industry”. The gas, in its various forms, powers everything from electricity generation to heating for homes. It is used for numerous industrial chemicals and can be converted to fuels amongst many other applications.

For ordinary Batswana, gas is most commonly used in the form known as Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), the cooking gas used by hundreds of thousands of households across the country. Available figures show that annual usage of LPG in the country grew by 50 percent to 21 million litres between 2010 and 2020, as more Batswana moved away “dirtier” sources such as paraffin and firewood.