LPG Industry Set to Accelerate Sub-Saharan Clean Cooking Infrastructure Rollout at South Africa Expo
23 Apr 2001, Kenya --- Woman Cooking Over Propane Tank --- Image by © Patrice Latron/Corbis
Johannesburg, South Africa, 9th April 2026 – The World Liquid Gas Association (WLGA) is participating in the Sub-Saharan Africa LPG Expo taking place 9th – 10th April in Johannesburg, at a time of heightened demand for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in southern African cities. Michael Kelly, Chief Advocacy Officer and Deputy Managing Director of WLGA will join over 2,000 delegates from the international energy community and clean cooking experts to accelerate LPG use in Africa.
Key moments of the Expo will include:
- A Cooking For Life Workshop, hosted by the WLGA Cooking For Life Africa Taskforce will empower individuals to share proven strategies for expanding LPG access and best practices for clean cooking programmes.
- The official launch of the Saudi Forward7 Initiative Africa Clean Cooking Competition, a cross-sector programme designed to identify and scale innovative clean cooking solutions across Africa.
- Taking place under the theme of “Clean Cooking for a Greener, Healthier Sub-Saharan Africa” the Expo will highlight that LPG is abundant, affordable, and deployable today and has driven around 70% of global clean-cooking gains since 2010.
The Expo is another critical milestone for the global LPG community ahead of the IEA’s second Summit on Clean Cooking in Africa set to take place 9th - 10th July in Nairobi, Kenya, as well as the WLGA’s Liquid Gas Week which will convene the global LPG industry in Istanbul, Turkey 12th – 16th October under the theme ‘Resilience in a Changing World’.
Natacha Cambriels, VP LPG and Clean Cooking, TotalEnergies and Cooking for Life Africa Taskforce Chair, said: "The first Sub-Saharan Africa LPG Expo arrives at a critical time for our industry against a backdrop of geopolitical instability that is already affecting critical LPG markets like India. The WLGA Cooking For Life Africa Taskforce shows that the private sector is building the infrastructure and driving the technical innovation needed to facilitate the rollout of clean cooking solutions across a complex supply chain. This Expo is a critical milestone on the road to Nairobi and Istanbul, which the private sector and governments must use as a platform to accelerate clean energy access and clean cooking across the world.”
Michael Kelly, Chief Advocacy Officer and Deputy Managing Director, World Liquid Gas Association, said: “Now more than ever our industry needs to go further and faster. We have the fuel and the technology for deployment, and it is now a case for regulation to move at the same pace. Specifically, we need coherent regulations on cylinder management across Africa, which is a key chokehold on progress. If we can make progress on this in 2026, we will have made a huge impact in unlocking LPG’s potential to drive a sustainable energy transition and ultimately save lives across Africa.”
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. 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.
For more information on the Sub-Saharan Africa LPG Expo please visit the event website here.
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NOTES TO EDITORS
The World Liquid Gas Association (WLGA) is the authoritative voice for the global Liquid Gas industry, representing the full Liquid Gas value chain. The primary goal of the association is to add value to the sector by driving premium demand for Liquid Gas, while also promoting compliance with good business and safety practices. With over 300 members in 125 countries, the association brings together private and public companies involved in one, several or all activities of the industry, develops long-term partnerships with international organisations, and implements projects on local and global scales.
In 2024, the WLGA launched a new roadmap (here) to expand access to clean cooking solutions across Africa by increasing availability of LPG. The roadmap was authored by S&P Global Commodity Insights and commissioned by the WLGA Cooking For Life Africa Task Force (CFLA), an industry initiative established in 2024 as a platform for the LPG industry to participate in the first IEA Summit on Clean Cooking in Africa. It continues to serve as a focal point for member companies interested in expanding access to LPG across sub-Saharan Africa. CFLA includes Worthington Enterprises, Makeen Energy, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Oryx Energies, Petredec, S&P Global, SHV Energy, and Total Energies.