All is not well in two of Africa’s biggest oil producers as Nigerians and Angolans protest the long fuel shortages that have hit their countries this week.
For almost a week, petrol stations in both countries have been selling fuel at high prices, with many eventually ‘closing shop’ when the fuel supply they have runs out.
“We don’t have any more,” said Henriques Carvalho, a pump attendant in Angola’s capital, Luanda.
“They came here to refuel but demand has been so great that we sold our last few litres tonight. I’m waiting for the next tanker.”
In Nigeria, the fuel is being sold at as high as N400 ($1.1) up from N145 while in Angola, prices are reported to have tripled to as high as 500 kwanzas ($3)
“I’ve been queuing for two hours,” said Gisela Manuela from behind the wheel of her sedan in Luanda, Angola.
“I’ve already tried three other petrol stations — all in vain. Hopefully it will be better here.”
Authorities in both countries have issued several reassurances and statements over the course of the week, but none of the government’s actions seem to be bearing fruit in resolving the shortages.
Nigeria’s state oil firm said on Thursday it had more than doubled the daily supply of fuel for motorists to 80 million litres, attributing the shortage to a “hiccup in the supply chain”.
“Some marketers, in their quest to cash in on the situation, suddenly started hoarding products,” the state oil firm said in a statement, again calling on motorists not to panic buy fuel.
While in Angola, the state oil company, Sonagol, acknowledged ‘delays in processing fuel at the country’s ports because of minor issues around the payment of certain suppliers’ but insisted that it was ‘not short of fuel’ and that there was ‘no reason to be alarmed’.
Nigeria has particularly experienced fuel shortages in recent years, which usually result in long queues for fuel, wide spread power cuts at businesses that rely on petrol-driven generators to withstand frequent power outages and grounded planes.
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