Zimbabwe to regulate gas prices

Takudzwa Chihambakwe

Zimbabweans who are facing erratic electricity supplies are turning to Liquefied Petroleum Gas, LPG for cooking.However, the price of gas in the southern African country has become expensive.

Currently, a kilogramme of gas costs on average between RTGS$10 and RTGS$18 depending on whether one is using cash or electronic money transfer, there being a different price for each mode of payment.

With no regulation of operators, this leaves consumers at the mercy of gas dealers who determine prices of the product.

To protect consumers, the Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (ZERA) says it is coming up with regulations to control the pricing of gas to make it competitive and affordable to ordinary people.

“We have come up with the pricing structures and we are now working to ensure that when we introduce these pricing regulations, we have a buy in from all stakeholders,” said ZERA chief executive officer, Edington Mazambani.

Engagements with stakeholders will also address funding issues.

“We cannot regulate the price and not talk about access to funding. At the moment operators in the gas industry are getting foreign currency to import the product from the market and we are actually engaging with the Reserve Bank to see if they can be supported in terms of allocation of foreign currency,” said Mazambani.