Billionaire Rostam Aziz Bets $124 Million on Kenya’s LPG Market with Massive Mombasa Gas Terminal
A major shift is unfolding in Kenya’s liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) industry as Taifa Gas, the cooking gas company controlled by Tanzanian billionaire Rostam Aziz, moves closer to completing a $124 million gas import and storage terminal in Mombasa. The landmark investment is expected to reshape the country’s cooking gas supply chain by challenging the long-standing dominance of the two facilities that have historically controlled most LPG imports into Kenya.
Located within the strategically positioned Dongo Kundu Special Economic Zone near the Port of Mombasa, the state-of-the-art terminal is nearing completion, according to the Kenya Special Economic Zones Authority. The project represents one of the largest private foreign direct investments in Kenya in recent years and signals growing confidence in the country’s expanding energy market.
Spread across a 30-acre site, the terminal has been designed to become a major regional energy hub. It features 12 massive spherical storage tanks with an initial capacity of 30,000 tonnes, while its infrastructure has been engineered to accommodate future expansion to as much as 45,000 tonnes. Beyond serving the Kenyan market, the facility is expected to support bulk LPG imports, long-term storage, and distribution across East Africa, strengthening regional energy security.
The project comes at a critical moment for Kenya’s LPG sector. As of March 2025, the country’s total installed cooking gas storage capacity stood at approximately 44,430 tonnes. During the second half of 2025, Kenya’s LPG imports were handled exclusively through two major facilities, with one jetty processing nearly 90 percent of all imports and the second handling the remaining 10 percent. This concentration has effectively created a duopoly that has shaped the country’s LPG supply chain for years.
The arrival of Taifa Gas introduces a significant third player into the market. Industry observers believe the new terminal will provide fuel marketers with greater flexibility by expanding storage options, allowing larger cargo shipments, reducing logistical bottlenecks, and improving resilience against supply disruptions. Increased competition could also enhance efficiency across the market while supporting Kenya’s long-term goal of making clean cooking fuel more accessible to households.
Kenya’s demand for LPG continues to rise rapidly as more families transition away from traditional cooking fuels such as charcoal and firewood. During the second half of 2025, national consumption climbed by 14.59 percent year-on-year to reach 251,425 tonnes, highlighting the country’s accelerating shift toward cleaner and more environmentally friendly energy sources.
Although construction of the Mombasa terminal began in 2023, the project encountered several setbacks, including compensation disputes involving local communities and legal challenges related to environmental concerns. These issues delayed progress but were eventually resolved by the end of 2025, allowing construction to advance toward completion.
For Rostam Aziz, the Mombasa terminal represents another milestone in the continued expansion of his business empire. Through Taifa Gas and other investments, the Tanzanian billionaire has established a strong presence across multiple industries, including energy, mining, aviation, and media. His latest investment reinforces Taifa Gas’s ambition to become one of East Africa’s leading LPG suppliers while strengthening cross-border energy infrastructure within the region.
Once operational, the Mombasa terminal is expected to transform Kenya’s LPG import landscape, improve supply reliability, expand storage capacity, and stimulate greater competition in a market that has long been dominated by only two major import facilities. As East Africa’s demand for cleaner cooking energy continues to grow, the project positions Taifa Gas at the centre of one of the region’s fastest-growing energy markets.
