Niger: Fuel Shortage Now Hits the Capital

The fuel shortage has spread to Niamey, where queues at petrol stations have grown since the weekend and motorists sometimes wait for hours. Harouna Chérif says the difficulties have lasted a week and left him unable to find fuel to get to work, while Abdoulaye Zakari says the shortage continues despite announcements that it had ended. Niger’s refining capacity is insufficient to meet national demand: the country’s only refinery, in Zinder, is operating at about 75% capacity and produces 1.6 million litres a day. The situation is also linked to dwindling supplies of smuggled fuel from Nigeria.