By Jean-Pierre A.
Fuel prices have surged across several African countries amid supply shortages caused by the US–Israel war in Iran, which has disrupted global oil supply.
Ghana, Tanzania, Mauritania are some of the countries that have hiked the fuel prices.
South Africa reduced its fuel levy on Tuesday after for one month to tame the price increase in April. This followed pressure from the trade unions and business groups.
In Ghana, the National Petroleum Authority raised mandatory minimum price floors for the April 1–15 pricing window, pushing petrol prices up around 15 percent to 13.30 cedis ($1.21) per litre (0.26 U.S. gallon) and diesel up roughly 19% to 17.10 cedis.
According to Reuters, President John Mahama said on Monday that the government was considering steps to cushion consumers, including reducing fuel margins and reviewing a recently imposed levy on petroleum products.
Ghana imports about 70 percent of its refined fuel. Many African countries import their fuel. A number of countries have contacted Dangote’s oil refinery in Nigeria to secure additional supply sources amid shortage.
The Iran war has severely disrupted global oil supply in recent weeks.
In Malawi, the Energy Regulatory Authority (MERA) imposed even steeper increases, raising petrol prices by 34 percent to 6,672 kwacha ($3.89) per litre and diesel by 35 percent to 6,687 kwacha from Wednesday, reported Reuters.
In East Africa, Tanzania’s Energy and Water Utility Regulatory Authority has set a new petrol price cap of 3,820 shillings ($1.49) per litre in Dar-es-Salaam, up 33 percent from March. Diesel also rose 33 percent to 3,802 shillings.
However, the regulator said fuel supply remained adequate to meet the country’s needs.
Oil shipments through the key Strait of Hormuz waterway have mostly been halted after Iran threatened to attack tankers that try to cross in retaliation to US-Israeli strikes, which began on 28 February.
Anne-Sophie Corbeau, a Global Research Scholar at Center on Global Energy Policy at Colombia, told the BBC’s Today programme that disruption to traffic through the Strait of Hormuz was likely to persist and that additional costs in the form of fees to use the strait could be “quite substantial”.
Meanwhile, Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury and Economic Planning, John Mbadi, said the country is out of the woods, assuring that there is sufficient supply despite concerns that prices could rise at any time.
Mr Mbadi, said via X, the global economic outlook is under pressure due to escalating Middle East tensions, with risks to energy markets, trade, and financial stability.
The cabinet Secretary added the Middle East conflict poses key risks, including rising oil prices, potential fuel cost increases, and disruptions to trade, exports, and supply chains.
Raising the minimum wage to cushion households
Mauritania on Tuesday raised petrol by 15.3 percent and diesel by 10 percent. Economic Affairs Minister Abdallah Ould Souleymane, who compared the situation to the 1973 oil crisis, said the government would offset the impact on vulnerable households by raising the minimum wage and providing cash transfers to low-income families.
