LUSAKA – Zambia is moving to broaden its petroleum supply network beyond TAZAMA, advancing alternative fuel corridors through Tanzania, Namibia and Mozambique as domestic demand continues to rise.
Ministry of Energy Permanent Secretary for Energy Prof Ephraim Munshifwa said Government was prioritising alternative pipeline routes, additional storage and strategic petroleum reserves to reduce dependence on a single supply corridor.
The biggest piece is the proposed Tanzania-Zambia Multi-Product Petroleum Pipeline, designed to move up to seven million tonnes of petroleum products a year. Government is also planning an upgrade of the existing TAZAMA system, which currently carries diesel from Dar es Salaam into Zambia. The Ministry has already invited transaction-adviser proposals for the new pipeline and rehabilitation of the existing line.
But Tanzania is no longer the only option.
Cabinet has approved development of the Namibia-Zambia Refined Petroleum and Natural Gas Pipeline under a public-private partnership structure, while the Ministry says an agreement was signed in May 2025 to pursue a petroleum pipeline linking Beira in Mozambique to Ndola.
Demand is changing the equation
TAZAMA is currently moving about 3.6 million litres of diesel per day, following operational improvements that lifted throughput from about 2.8 million litres.
The Ministry’s latest update says that now covers roughly 67% of national diesel demand.
That is a notable shift. In March 2025, Government told Parliament that the same 3.6 million litres represented about 80% of national demand.
If the latest 67% figure is measured on the same basis, it implies national diesel requirements are now running at roughly 5.4 million litres per day. That is an LN calculation from the Ministry’s rounded percentage, but it points to the pressure building on existing infrastructure.
Government is also expanding strategic storage, including facilities at Kapiri Mposhi and Nakonde. The wider programme follows completion of the new 102,000-cubic-metre Lusaka Fuel Depot, which adds substantial diesel and petrol storage capacity to the national system.
The developing ZPEC refinery in Ndola, designed for around three million tonnes of annual processing capacity, adds another layer to the emerging petroleum network.
Why it matters
Zambia’s petroleum strategy is increasingly becoming a multi-corridor system.
TAZAMA remains the backbone, but Namibia, Mozambique and a second Tanzania pipeline would give the country alternative entry points and reduce exposure to disruption on any single route.
For logistics operators, the implications extend beyond fuel security.
New pipelines and storage hubs could progressively change where petroleum enters Zambia, where it is stored and how far it travels by road tanker.
LN signal: The petroleum infrastructure race is moving from individual project announcements to an interconnected national supply strategy. With diesel demand rising, the question is no longer whether Zambia needs additional corridors, but which projects reach operation first and how they reshape the road-tanker market.