(Bloomberg) -- In the three weeks taxi driver Jean-Paul Nsabimana spent lining up for gas at a filling station in Burundi’s capital, Kenya saw deadly protests, South Africa ushered in a new government, and Britain replaced its prime minister.
His epic wait isn’t unusual in the tiny African nation that’s the poorest on the planet, where a foreign-currency shortage means fuel pumps are running dry. It’s common for citizens to spend days and weeks in queues waiting to fill up with gasoline.
In the commercial hub of Bujumbura, fuel-station lines snake for 800 meters (2,600 feet), with drivers leaving their cars there, waiting for the day they can fill up. Those with more means hire young people to sleep in the vehicles overnight to prevent them from being stolen. Given that Burundi is in its dry season, the autos gather dust as they wait in the queues.
While the problem plaguing the tiny central African country isn’t new, it’s getting worse. Burundi has faced currency shortages since October 2015, when the European Union — its top donor — imposed sanctions after President Pierre Nkurunziza opted to run for a third term, sparking a deadly political crisis. On top of that, floods have hit exports of coffee and tea — the nation’s leading currency earners — making it more difficult to generate the money needed to import goods like fuel and medicines.
“I just spent three weeks here at the station,” Nsabimana said of his ordeal to get gasoline. “I waited a week, and when it came I was not served, but I gained a few meters in the queue because those in front of me were served. In the second week, I went a few more meters forward, and in the third week, I was served.”
Fuel shortages aren’t uncommon in many African countries, where some governments struggle to pay for gasoline imports because of scarce foreign currency, especially when oil prices spike as they did in 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
A liter of gasoline from retailers in Burundi costs 4,000 francs ($1.39). While that’s more than in South Africa and about the same as in Kenya, it’s double the price it was in 2017. On the booming unofficial market, however, its four times more at 17,000 francs.
Since the Covid-19 pandemic, inflation has surged in the landlocked country, with annual price growth peaking at about 33% in April last year. While it has since cooled to about 16%, it has ravaged the livelihoods of citizens, 87% of whom survive on less than $1.90 daily.
Gas-station owners — who get the fuel from neighboring Tanzania — are allocated about 5,000 liters weekly. While the government has capped fuel sales at no more than 30 liters per vehicle, a station will easily deplete its weekly quota in hours.
Many taxi and bus drivers who are able to obtain gasoline from retailers immediately resell this fuel on the black market for a profit. Earlier in July, police arrested at least 200 drivers of public buses for profiteering, leaving the vehicles stationary and commuters stranded.
Currency Needs
Burundi needs $30 million to import petroleum products monthly, but only generates $15 million from exports, creating a persistent shortage, Energy Minister Ibrahim Uwizeye told reporters last month.
A government spokesman referred questions to Uwizeye. Calls to the minister’s phone didn’t connect. The website of the nation’s central bank — which carries data on foreign-currency reserves — is inaccessible. The bank next publishes the data on Aug. 31, a spokesman said.
The government is looking to boost coffee output to at least 40,000 tons annually by 2028 from 8,000 tons now as a way to generate more foreign income. It also wants to invest in avocado production and start exporting fertilizers.
--With assistance from Michael Gunn.
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