Ally Awadh’s Lake Gas receives Nigerian cooking gas shipment to cut prices in Kenya

Key Points

• Lake Gas offloads first Nigerian LPG shipment at new $60M Vipingo terminal, boosting Kenya’s cooking gas supply despite ongoing regulatory probes.
• Ally Awadh says terminal commissioning marks a turning point, expanding Kenya’s LPG import capacity and regional access to cleaner energy.
• Despite EIA permit revocation, Lake Group presses ahead with East Africa expansion, leveraging 10,000-tonne storage and offshore offloading system.

Lake Gas, a key supplier of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in Tanzania, Zambia, DRC, Kenya, and Burundi under the Lake Group — an energy and logistics company led by Tanzanian businessman Ally Awadh — has received its first shipment of cooking gas from Nigeria. The move is part of efforts to ease the burden of high gas prices for Kenyan households.

Lake Gas unloads Nigerian LPG despite probes

The shipment arrived at the group’s new terminal in Vipingo, Kilifi County, even as the facility faces scrutiny from both local residents and the county government. Concerns have been raised over how the $60 million project was developed, with allegations that some approval procedures were not properly followed.

Despite the controversy, the company marked a significant operational milestone with the safe discharge of 11,474 metric tonnes of LPG from Nigeria. The facility uses an offshore Conventional Buoy Mooring (CBM) system located about one kilometer off the Vipingo coast to offload gas, which is then piped and stored onshore.

Ally Awadh expands Kenya LPG access

Lake Group founder and CEO Ally Awadh described the event as a turning point for the company and for Kenya’s energy sector. “Starting operations at the Vipingo terminal is a big step, not just for us, but for the region,” Awadh said. “It boosts the country’s LPG import capacity and shows our commitment to making clean energy more accessible.”

He added that the successful commissioning, which took place between June 2 and 4, tested the full LPG supply chain, from vessel mooring and pipeline transfer to storage. He said all operations were carried out under international safety standards and environmental regulations.

The new terminal, with a storage capacity of 10,000 metric tonnes, positions Lake Gas as a serious contender in Kenya’s LPG market. Awadh said the company is ready to play a bigger role in improving access to cleaner cooking fuel across East Africa.

Lake Group drives energy expansion despite regulatory setback

Since founding Lake Group in 2006, Ally Awadh has expanded the group from a small fuel distribution business in Tanzania into a major energy player across East Africa. Today, with over 400 fuel tankers and several strategically located terminals, the group is a major player in the region’s energy space. Through Lake Gas, it is now also one of the region’s largest LPG suppliers.

While the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) permit for the Kilifi terminal was revoked by Kenya’s National Environment Tribunal earlier this year, Lake Group has remained focused on its expansion plans. The company is banking on its infrastructure and scale to compete with established LPG firms, with its import terminal now ranking high in the country.