Sierra Leone fuel price per litre is 2nd most expensive in West Africa.

C4D Media experts have alluded that Sierra Leone is the second country, after Senegal, with the most expensive fuel per litre in West Africa, courtesy of   Business Insider Africa and GlobalPetroleumPrices.com. In their Top 10 ranking of African countries with the highest fuel price per litre, Business Insider Africa Report indicated that  Sierra Leone is the 5th most expensive in Africa, and GlobalPetroleumPrice.com ranked Sierra Leone as the 53^rd country in the world with the highest fuel price.

A hair-split analysis suggests that Sierra Leone’s fuel price per litre is the second most expensive in the sub-region, preceded by Senegal and the most expensive in the Mano River Union. Moreover, Sierra Leone is the 5th most expensive in Africa, preceded by Seychelles, Senegal, Zimbabwe, and Central Africa Republic, the most expensive in Africa.  Morocco, Burundi, Kenya, Uganda and Malawi follow the five most expensive countries mentioned above.

According to Globalpetrolprice.com, as of April 29-Apr-2024:

‘’The average price of gasoline around the world is 1.35 U.S. Dollar per liter. However, there is substantial difference in these prices among countries. As a general rule, richer countries have higher prices while poorer countries and the countries that produce and export oil have significantly lower prices. One notable exception is the U.S. which is an economically advanced country but has low gas prices. The differences in prices across countries are due to the various taxes and subsidies for gasoline. All countries have access to the same petroleum prices of international markets but then decide to impose different taxes. As a result, the retail price of gasoline is different.’’

Despite being among the top 10 most expensive countries with the highest fuel price in Africa, the top 2 in West Africa and the most expensive in the Mano River Union, as classified by experts, rumours have it that the Petroleum Regulatory Agency (PRA) and its leadership Dr Brima Baluwa Koroma is underway to increase fuel price in Sierra Leone. If we are to go by this, Sierra Leone will either move to 2nd or 3rd place from 5th place in Africa, depending on the amount increased. It would likely move to 1st place from 2nd in West Africa for the worst reasons.

Given this, citizens have called on President Bio to up his game against any increment in the price of petroleum products in Sierra Leone. The country is already constrained by rising inflation, foreign exchange rates, high cost of living due to astronomical prices of goods and services, tariff increases in basic social amenities like scarce water and unsteady electricity to mobile networks, transport fares, housing rents, and unemployment, among others. Despite donor support, the country has been grappling with these very important challenges. It is without prejudice that the rapid increases in fuel prices in the country have affected every facet of people’s lives. The foreign exchange rates have dwarfed the Leone, making it useless to foreign currencies. The high cost of living and deplorable lives of citizens affect the human cost of living because the conditions of service are unspeakable for those who have jobs, let alone those without.   The majority of those without jobs have taken to Kush as a panacea to the socio-economic problems facing them in life. This has led to a different ball of high-level criminality and Kush intoxication among youths.

 With the present situation and the bad economy, an increase in fuel prices is nothing but an added burden to the already existing burden among Sierra Leoneans. Fuel price increases will affect every facet of people’s lives. For example, transportation costs will increase, more pressure will be put on the cost of production of goods and services, which will lead to rising inflation, and businessmen will take advantage of the vulnerability of citizens and exploit them with impunity.

According to Business Insider Africa: ‘’…industries that rely significantly on transportation, such as manufacturing, logistics, and agriculture, can see higher operating costs. This might thus result in lower profit margins, possible employee layoffs, or higher prices for their product.’’

According to experts, increases in the cost of fuel will hamper economic growth because they can inhibit consumer spending, stifle foreign and local investment, and, above all, undermine productivity.

Courtesy of Business Insider Africa and GlobalPetrolPrices.com, here are the top 10 African countries with the most expensive fuel prices in April 2024. The average price of gasoline worldwide is currently $1.34 U.S. Dollars per litre.

Given the above, it would be disingenuous for the Petroleum Regulatory Agency to increase fuel prices on petroleum products at this particular time when the fuel cost in Sierra Leone far exceeds the average price around the world, which is $1.34.  Every country needs an independent regulator to seek the interest of consumers in the petroleum sector as a way to avert the conundrum of menace to the livelihoods and social stability of citizens under President Bio since 2018. It is like the country does not have a regulator with a good conscience to maintain a fair and level playing field.  Fuel is an important commodity in the country, and we have learned from the past that when fuel is increased, it would have ripple effects on the lives of ordinary people since their livelihoods would be jeopardised. The cost of production will increase, and the production of many products will cause hardship for citizens. The higher the fuel price, the higher the cost of goods and services. The rapid increases in fuel prices in Sierra Leone have been attributed to the removal of fuel subsidies and the many taxes imposed on fuel importation and sale in the country.

Experts say fuel subsidy removal has become a nightmare and a thorn in the flesh of Sierra Leoneans: a constant source of pain and suffering as the current trend speaks for itself without reproach. It goes without saying that the removal of fuel subsidies in Sierra Leone has done more harm than good, and this has been very disappointing and frustrating because it has made life harder. It is more of an anti-poor policy to generate resources for the government.

‘’The consistent increases in the price of fuel in recent times by the government through the Petroleum Regulatory Agency (PRA) are nothing other than to generate resources for the government since the government is presently caught in a financial web, with development partners withdrawing support in protest of the outcome of the June 24 Presidential election, which has been controversially branded incredible.’’ Political analysts alluded.

With this circumstance, President Bio has to up his game to prevent any fuel price increase, considering that Sierra Leone is already selling more expensive fuel than her counterparts in the sub-region. He has to address the subsidy issue in the country. The IMF conditionality sometimes ruins a country’s economy because of its rigidity. In this respect, IMF conditionality comes into play when a government borrows money and agrees to adjust its economic policies to overcome the problems that led it to seek financial aid from the International Community. Once a state has entered into such an agreement, it is incumbent upon that state to comply, and failure to comply puts the state at risk of losing its eligibility and recoupment of benefits.

Concerning the above, the IMF conditionality could not be underestimated as the major factor for the Bio-led government to remove fuel subsidies without considering their negative impact on the country.  With the present state of the economy, subsidy removal might be more good than harmful, but for the citizens, it is hell because it has worsened the cost of living in the country. The off-shoot of the subsidy removal has negatively led to an increase in the price of petroleum products, affects the foreign exchange rate, leads to inflation and high cost of living, reduces purchasing power, impacts the cost of goods and services, sparks social unrest and protests, rise in fuel smuggling and exacerbate poverty among others.  

What is bad is that President Bio and his government have constantly related the hardship in the country and the continuous surge in fuel prices, inflation and the bad state of the economy to the triple shocks of the war in Ukraine, Corona and the global market.

However, the current global shocks could not be underestimated as probable factors. Still, it is not beyond reproach that President Bio should up his game as President of the Republic of Sierra Leone. He should use all means possible to use diplomacy to solve the issue at hand. Sierra Leone can’t survive without development partners or the international community. The foreign objective of foreign policy is the state. It should not be jeopardized to cost the nation. No excuse could be accepted for our comatose economy, which has submerged the country in a quagmire. It is not without irony that the country’s dependence on global commodity markets for a large part of its basic needs and incomes leaves households vulnerable to the surge in the prices of food items and fuel. 

C4D finds that the current shocks to imported food and fuel prices, agricultural commodity exports, and remittances have pushed many people into hardship and deepened the severity for many others.