Fuel prices skyrocket in Tanzania

By Osoro Nyawangah, MWANZA Tanzania

Tanzanians will now be forced to dig deepest into their pockets after the government announced an increment in fuel prices largely affected by increasing export charges and higher rates in the global fuel market according to the regulatory authority.

The Energy and Water Utilities Regulatory Authority (Ewura) has released fuel prices for the month of September, with prices skyrocketing across the board.

According to EWURA statement issued for September 2023, changes in prices of petroleum products in this month are mainly due to the increase in the world market prices by up to 21%, an increase in premiums for the importation of petroleum products by up to 62% and geopolitics in major oil producing countries (OPEC+).

The new price list is the highest ever in Tanzania, and it comes a month after the prices were reviewed upwards by Sh 462. In August, the Authority blamed dollar shortage in the East African nation and the global crude oil prices for the increase in fuel prices.

According to the new price list, a litre of petrol will retail at Sh.3213 ($1.30) in Dar-es-Salaam, up from Sh.3199 ($1.29) with diesel selling at Sh.3259 ($1.32) from Sh.2935 ($1.19). The prices in the city of Mwanza stands at Sh.3,363 for petrol and Sh.3,409 for diesel.

The new prices are effective September 6, 2023. 

Early this week, Ewura suspended operations at three filling stations and put another 16 under investigation over illegal trading practices accusing some businessmen of hoarding the precious liquid at a time when it is in high demand.

Long queues have been witnessed in local filling stations across the country following scarcity of fuel as dealers waited for a new and higher selling prices to be announced.

In May 2022, the government announced a Tsh100 billion ($40 million) subsidy to reduce fuel prices in the country but got removed in January.

Since the removal of fuel subsidy, the country has seen fuel inflation that Ewura in the past attributed to changes in oil prices in the global market, transportation costs (BPS Premium) and the value of the shilling compared to the US dollar.

The oil crisis in Tanzania has manifested itself in three interrelated problems; the country's inability to procure the required quantities of petroleum, an inadequate fuel distribution capacity, and a high fuel cost to the consumer.