Lake Gas — a leading supplier of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in Tanzania, Zambia, DR Congo, Kenya, and Burundi — and part of the Lake Group led by Tanzanian businessman Ally Awadh — has received its first shipment of cooking gas from Nigeria. The move aims to help ease the burden of high cooking gas prices for Kenyan households.
The shipment arrived at the company’s new terminal in Vipingo, Kilifi County, although the facility has been under scrutiny from both local residents and the county government. Some have raised concerns about how the $60 million project was approved, alleging that proper procedures were not fully followed.
Despite the controversy, the delivery of 11,474 metric tonnes of LPG marks a key milestone for the company. The terminal utilizes an offshore Conventional Buoy Mooring (CBM) system, anchored about a kilometer off the Vipingo coastline, to transfer the LPG from ship to shore for storage.
Lake Group founder and CEO Ally Awadh described the delivery as a turning point for the company and for Kenya’s energy sector.
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“Starting operations at the Vipingo terminal is a big step forward — not just for us, but for the region. It expands Kenya’s LPG import capacity and underscores our commitment to making clean energy more accessible.”
Awadh added that the successful commissioning — which took place from June 2 to 4 — tested all aspects of the supply chain, from mooring and pipeline transfer to storage, while adhering to international safety and environmental standards.
The new terminal has a storage capacity of 10,000 metric tonnes, strengthening Lake Gas’s ability to meet growing cooking gas demands across East Africa.
Awadh founded Lake Group in 2006 and has grown it from a small petroleum distribution business in Tanzania into a leading energy enterprise in the region. Today, the group operates a large fleet of over 400 tankers and numerous strategically located terminals. Through Lake Gas, it has become a key supplier of LPG across East Africa.
Earlier this year, Kenya’s National Environment Tribunal annulled the terminal’s Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) license. Nevertheless, Lake Group remained committed to its expansion plans and is banking on its strong infrastructure and scale to become a dominant player in the country’s LPG market.
