Accra, Ghana//-The World Liquid Gas Association (WLGA) warned that, if the ongoing Middle East crisis, which has now become a global nightmare if it drags on, the global price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) will spike and that African markets will get priced out by markets in Europe and Asia.
This, according to the WLGA, could lead large numbers of people who currently use LPG across Africa to switch back to biomass, which is renewable organic material derived from plants and animals.
It serves as a sustainable energy source for heat, electricity, and liquid biofuels. Biomass includes wood, crops, waste, and municipal solid waste.
The Chief Advocacy Officer and Deputy Managing Director of World Liquid Gas Association, Michael Kelly, gave the warning in an interview with the African Eye Report.
He explained that in the Global South, LPG offers a cost-effective energy solution for over a billion people currently without grid access and leads directly to improved health and economic dignity of women and girls who bear the brunt of energy poverty.
Although Sub-Saharan Africa’s LPG market can boast of roughly 5 to 6 million tonnes a year, which is smaller than the annual consumption of Brazil, Mr Kelly noted that strong government policy is a key driver of the Sub-Saharan Africa’s market.
The dangers
He added: “More and more governments recognise the dangers of having large numbers of people cooking on biomass and are encouraging a switch to LPG which is more scalable and cost-effective than competing fuels”.
While the big LPG markets in Sub-Saharan Africa are South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria. Ghana, Tanzania, Cameroon, Senegal and Cote d’Ivoire are also growing strongly, Mr Kelly stated.
Apart from individual countries generating their LPG in Sub-Saharan Africa, the majority of LPG currently used in Sub-Saharan Africa comes from either the United States or the Middle East.
Lessen the dependence
On what countries in Sub-Saharan Africa should do to lessen their dependence on Europe and the Middle East for gas, he encouraged them to invest in refining capacity and encourage more upstream production in countries like Nigeria, Angola and Mozambique that have reserves.
Clean cooking industry
On why the clean cooking industry is still struggling to grow in Sub-Saharan Africa, Mr Kelly explained: “This is mostly due to cost and a lack of infrastructure to get product to market”.
Answering a question on what can be done to accelerate the growth and development of the clean cooking industry, he urged the governments to work with players in the LPG industry to come up with solid legislation to grow the industry.
In his own words: “The governments should work with industry to craft legislation that incentivises the safe, long-term growth of the industry and encourages investment in key infrastructure to accelerate growth”.
We are supporting our members and the industry that is seeking to increase access to LPG in that country. The Ghanaian government has been very proactive in encouraging switching to LPG, Mr Kelly added.
Since 2024, the global clean cooking community has achieved significant momentum:
- US $470 million has been disbursed across 22 African countries to accelerate deployment, with US $2.2 billion total pledged.
- LPG has driven 70% of global clean-cooking gains since 2010, and unlike large-scale electrification, it is affordable and deployable today.
- 900 million Africans still lack clean fuel, including 90% of schools, resulting in severe health impacts and widespread deforestation.
This progress, however, must be seen in the context of the past decade. The IEA’s World Energy Outlook, released in November 2025, reveals that progress on clean cooking access has decelerated in recent years.
While 100 million people gained access to clean cooking in 2023, this represents a decline from 120 million in 2019.
Accelerating this rate of change is crucial, as household air pollution from traditional cooking methods causes premature deaths and transitioning to clean cooking solutions could reduce these fatalities by nearly two-thirds globally by 2040.
LPG Expo
Commenting on the recent Sub-Saharan Africa LPG Expo held from 9th to 10th April in Johannesburg, South Africa, organised by LPG Expo, a Singaporean company, Mr Kelly was very successful.
Achieve its purpose
The 2026 Sub-Saharan Africa LPG Expo in Johannesburg was a strategic and operational success, with strong participation from policymakers and industry stakeholders.
What stood out most wasn’t just the scale of participation or the pace of growth across Africa; it was the shared recognition that LPG is now recognised as a practical, scalable solution already reshaping energy access across the region, according to him.
Beyond the sessions, the real value was in the conversations, hearing directly from operators, policymakers, especially Samantha Graham Mare, Deputy Minister of Electricity and Energy, and innovators navigating on-the-ground realities across Sub-Saharan Africa.
Outcomes of the Expo
One of the obvious concrete outcomes was the increased cooperation between Forward7, the Saudi initiative helping poorer or rural communities around the world switch from dirty cooking fuels to clean energy. and the South African government.
“My understanding is that an agreement was reached on converting several rural schools in South Africa to cooking on LPG”.
