Tanzania’s Amsons nears $250 million Oryx Energies takeover in East Africa

A Tanzanian conglomerate is on the verge of taking control of one of East Africa’s most strategic energy networks in a $250 million deal that could reshape fuel distribution and cooking gas markets across the region.

• Tanzania’s Amsons Group is reportedly close to acquiring Oryx Energies in a deal valued at about $250 million.
• The acquisition would give the Tanzanian conglomerate control over critical fuel storage, LPG and downstream energy infrastructure across East Africa.
• The move highlights a growing shift as African-owned companies increasingly take over strategic sectors once dominated by multinationals.
• The deal also comes as Tanzania positions itself as a major regional hub for fuel logistics and clean cooking energy.

Amsons Group is reportedly in advanced talks to acquire Switzerland-based Oryx Energies, according to people familiar with the negotiations, in what could become one of the most consequential private-sector energy acquisitions in Tanzania’s history.

The proposed transaction goes far beyond a routine corporate takeover.

If completed, the deal would hand a Tanzanian-owned company control over critical petroleum storage infrastructure, fuel distribution systems, lubricant operations and a major liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) business serving multiple East and Central African countries.

The negotiations are reportedly being handled through Oryx Energies’ headquarters in Geneva, though neither company had publicly confirmed the transaction as of Monday.

Sources familiar with the matter say the acquisition includes Oryx’s fuels and lubricants operations as well as its stake in Tanzania International Petroleum Reserves Limited (TIPER), one of the region’s most strategically important petroleum storage facilities.

Located in Dar es Salaam’s Kigamboni industrial area, TIPER is jointly owned by the Tanzanian government and Oryx Energies under a 50-50 structure.

The facility occupies a critical position in East Africa’s energy supply chain.

Originally built as a refinery in the 1960s before its conversion into a storage terminal in 2000, TIPER has evolved into one of sub-Saharan Africa’s largest petroleum storage depots.

It receives fuel imports from large vessels through a single-point mooring system before distributing products to oil marketers across Tanzania and neighbouring countries.

Its reach stretches far beyond Tanzania’s borders, serving markets including Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Zambia, Malawi and eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

For Amsons, acquiring Oryx would instantly elevate the company into the top tier of East Africa’s downstream energy industry.

The group would gain access not only to fuel storage infrastructure but also to Oryx’s lubricant blending plants, LPG operations and regional retail fuel network, creating a vertically integrated energy business spanning storage, logistics, distribution and retail.

The deal also reflects a wider shift unfolding across Africa’s economy, where local conglomerates are increasingly taking control of strategic sectors historically dominated by foreign multinationals.

For decades, much of Africa’s energy infrastructure, from fuel terminals to refining and distribution networks, remained under the control of international commodity traders and foreign-owned firms.

That balance is beginning to change.

Across banking, cement, telecoms, mining and now energy, African-owned groups are expanding aggressively across borders, backed by growing domestic capital and rising regional influence.

Amsons has emerged as one of the clearest examples of that transformation.

Led by Tanzanian businessman Edha Nahdi, the company has rapidly expanded beyond its traditional industrial base through a series of high-value regional acquisitions and infrastructure investments.

In late 2024, Amsons acquired Kenya’s Bamburi Cement in a deal valued at around $300 million, one of East Africa’s largest recent cross-border corporate transactions.

The company later signed a $250 million agreement to build a clinker plant in Kenya’s Kwale County, secured influence in East African Portland Cement, and entered a $900 million power generation agreement in Zambia.

The Oryx acquisition would push the conglomerate even deeper into one of Africa’s most politically sensitive and economically strategic industries: energy.

The timing is especially important because East Africa’s LPG market is expanding rapidly as governments push households away from charcoal and firewood.

Tanzania has become one of the continent’s fastest-growing cooking gas markets, driven by aggressive clean cooking policies, urbanisation and rising energy demand.

Government-backed subsidy programmes and policy reforms have accelerated LPG adoption as authorities attempt to reduce deforestation, indoor air pollution and dependence on biomass fuels.

According to Tanzanian regulatory data, national LPG consumption surged by 38% in the latest reporting year to more than 403,000 metric tonnes.

That growth has intensified competition among suppliers.

Oryx has long been one of Tanzania’s dominant LPG players, though rivals such as Taifa Gas have steadily eroded its market share in recent years as competition in the sector intensified.

In a further attempt to stabilise supply and lower prices, Tanzania recently integrated LPG into its Petroleum Bulk Procurement System, increasing the strategic value of major storage and import infrastructure.

The proposed transaction also strengthens Tanzania’s ambition to position itself as a regional fuel and LPG logistics hub for East and Central Africa.

Dar es Salaam and Tanga have increasingly attracted investment from energy companies seeking access to inland African markets with rising fuel demand and limited domestic infrastructure.

If Amsons completes the acquisition, a Tanzanian-owned company would sit at the centre of one of the region’s most important energy distribution corridors rather than at its edges.

That would mark not just a major corporate expansion, but another sign of Africa’s shifting economic power dynamics, where local firms are no longer simply competing in domestic markets, but increasingly taking ownership of the infrastructure shaping the continent’s future energy economy.