The Zambia Electrometer has raised its LED bulb production to 2 million per year following the Zambian government’s decision to ban incandescent bulb imports, according to a report from the Times of Zambia.

The local manufacturer quadrupled its production from 500,000 LED bulbs per year to 2 million annually, due to projected demand surges.

“We have increased the production of energy saving bulbs because the demand is likely to grow after June,” said the company’s Marketing manager Joo Chunga. “We have done so because we want to meet the anticipated increase in demand of the product on market.”

To promote energy saving efforts, the government passed a regulation that bans incandescent bulb imports, which will be effective starting from June 30, 2016, reported the paper.

The local LED bulb manufacturer will be producing both dimmable and non-dimmable LED lights that are expected to have a lifespan of 36,000 hours.

Most consumers have not warmed up to LED bulbs in Zambia, due to the higher retail price, but the company is working on making more affordable but high quality LED bulbs to meet different market segment demands, said Chunga.

According to the paper, Zambia Electrometer is the only company manufacturing energy saving bulbs in Southern Africa. The company has a production capacity of 15,000 bulbs per day, and a 36% market share in the region.