Taifa Gas is preparing to commission its 30,000 metric tonnes liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) plant in Mombasa, in what will see the firm take on two dominant players.
Rostam Aziz, the chairman of Taifa Group, said on Tuesday that the plant, being built in Dongo Kundu, will be opened in the coming months.
The plant, whose construction started in 2023, will rival the 25,000 metric tonne capacity plant owned by African Gas and Oil Company (Agol) in Shimanzi, Mombasa County and the 10,000 metric tonne facility owned by Lake Gas in Vipingo, Kilifi County.
“I invite you, your Excellencies (President William Ruto and Samia Suluhu Hassan) to the opening of our LPG terminal in Mombasa in the coming months,” Mr Azizi, said on Tuesday at a Kenya-Tanzania business forum.
Taifa Gas is betting on the plant to boost the supply of LPG in the East Africa region given that the company will now have a terminal in Kenya, Tanzania and Zanzibar.
The firm is the largest supplier in Tanzania and has been feeding the Kenyan retail market via road.
“This project reflects an efficient, unified business system. When the gas runs low in Mombasa, it can be supplied from Dar es Salaam and when Dar es Salaam faces shortages, it can be replenished from Mombasa. Zanzibar will also benefit from the same network,” Mr Azizi said.
Agol and Lake Gas currently handle more than 98 percent of the cooking gas imported into Kenya for local consumption, a dominance that Taifa Gas looks set to upset.
Increased competition is expected to trigger wholesale price wars that would ultimately help lower the prices of cooking gas.
Official data shows that Agol handled 90 percent of the cooking gas imported into Kenya or 207,987,805 kilogrammes in the six months to December 2025, while Lake Gas took the remaining 10 percent (22,020,366 kg).
The launch of the new plant comes as Kenyans smart from an increase in retail prices of LPG in the wake of the US-Israel war on Iran.
Prices of cooking gas have surged by up to Sh390 in Nairobi in the wake of the Middle East conflict that has triggered a spike in the cost of two key components of LPG.
Rubis Energie Kenya is selling the 13-kilogramme gas at Sh3,530 up from Sh3,140, reflecting a jump of 12 percent, while the same quantity has shot up to Sh3,510 from Sh3,140 at TotalEnergies Marketing Kenya.
The price surge reflects the global rise in the cost of propane and butane due to the supply disruptions following the US-Israel war on Iran.
Consumption of cooking gas has been on a steady rise for the past few years, jumping 14.7 percent to 475,950 tonnes last year from 414,880 tonnes used in 2024.
