Prepare for worst fuel crisis, higher food prices

Prepare for worst fuel crisis, higher food prices
Boda boda operators queue for fuel at NilePet fuel station in Juba (photo credit: Alex Bullen/ City Review)

South Sudan could experience one of the worst fuel crises in the next few months, the national fuel suppliers have warned.

The Russo– Ukraine war that has disrupted the global supply chain resulting in fuel scarcity, coupled with Kenya’s general election that brings about anxiety are some of the contributors of the problem. According to the suppliers, the problem could get much pronounced after Kenya’s date with the ballot on August 9.

Blamed for hoarding

Speaking to the media on Friday, the traders alleged that Nairobi has been hoarding fuel for emergency to avert shortage making South Sudan’s purchasing volume at the Mombasa Port to reduce.

“With the war that is happening in Ukraine, fuel is not there now in Nairobi, the fuel which is there they are trying to keep for the elections period,” said Talib Juma, the Managing Director of Bros Group of Companies.

Also, Mr. Juma claimed the fuel importation costs had sharply increased from $3,000 to $5,000- an increment of more than 70 per cent in less than two months since mid-April 2022.

He said though the government of South Sudan has sharply cut fuel tax, bringing it down to less than 3 percent on imports, hopes are still waning.

 “[Let’s wait] until the election period is finished, for sure we cannot guarantee the availability of fuel in South Sudan.’’  

The country’s main fuel supplier, Trinity Energy, which now sells fuel at a very low price says it could be overwhelmed by the anticipated future situation.

“I do not know whether you know that there has been a fuel crisis in Kenya and also the increase in fuel prices but Trinity Energy is trying to improve the economy by selling the fuel cheaply,” Mariam Dangasuk, Trinity Energy Head of Program said.

Over the past months since the start of the Ukraine war, many parts of the world including the East African region have been hard hit by the fuel shortage. In South Sudan, a litre of fuel has shot up from SSP500 between May and early June to SSP750 or SSP 800 (about $2).

But, Kenya, which is preparing to go for polls next month, on Tuesday reached a government-to-government deal with Saudi Arabia to import fuel at the lowest price to curb the pump crisis, beginning in August.

Kenya’s main refined petroleum suppliers have been United Arab Emirates, India, Saudi Arabia, Netherlands, and Kuwait. However, Kuwait, Netherlands, and Belgium have been the latest growing import markets for Kenya since 2019.

Despite being one of Africa’s crude oil-producing countries, South Sudan imports fuel through Kenya’s Mombasa Port. With its poor infrastructure coupled with insecurity and being a landlocked country, the world’s Juba has always been hard hit by the fuel crisis.

All eyes of citizens now are on the Bentiu Refinery project believed to be having the potential of relieving fuel issues in the country to scale down relyiance on importation from abroad.

However, the Managing Director of Nile Petroleum Corporation, Chol Deng Thon, said the Bentiu Oil Refinery was functional but affected by poor road infrastructure, hampering the supply of fuel for local consumption within the country.

“The refinery is currently up and running. We are currently working with the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Road to make the road passable so that fuel can be delivered to greater Bahr el Ghazal and also greater Equatoria, and we will use the River Nile to deliver heavy fuel to Juba.”  Chol said in March this year.

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