Is Nigeria’s fuel price among the cheapest in Africa as claimed?

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Claim: A Facebook user claimed that Nigeria, Sudan, and Ghana are among the ten African countries with the lowest fuel prices.

Is Nigeria’s fuel price among the cheapest in Africa as claimed?

Verdict: TRUE. Despite the country’s economic situation, Nigeria’s fuel price is the fifth cheapest in Africa.

Full Text

As of 2024, many African nations, preeminent oil producers, are grappling with significant economic challenges. Different underlying factors, such as public debt distress, political instability, inflation rate, and cost of living, are hindering the projected moderate economic growth on the continent. Also, climate change and global crises such as the Russia-Ukraine war and the Israel-Gaza crisis have reduced demand for African exports, hindering economic recovery efforts and slowing down foreign investment in Africa.

Despite being one of Africa’s largest oil producers, governance issues and public discontent threaten to worsen Nigeria’s economic crises. Citizens recently expressed frustration at the government’s inability to address food insecurity and inflation, which surged to 34% in June 2024. Though the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said Nigeria produces approximately 1.3 million barrels daily, Nigerians have criticised the scarce and expensive fuel supply.

However, a Facebook user, S S Fulani Naira, posted a list of ten African countries with the lowest fuel prices, and Nigeria occupies the fifth position. The list said Libya, Egypt, Algeria, and Angola are cheaper than Nigeria, while other countries like Sudan, Tunisia, Liberia, Gabon, and Ghana are more expensive.

The predominant sentiments observed on the 304 comments and 156 reshares that the post generated showed disbelief. The post was also found here, here, and here. The differing reactions prompted DUBAWA to fact-check the claim.

Verification

As of July 2024, data obtained on Global Petrol Prices (a platform tracking retail petrol prices in selected countries) revealed that Libya ($0.031), Egypt ($0.279), Algeria ($0.342), and Angola ($0.351) are the only four countries in Africa that sell fuel at cheaper rates than Nigeria ($0.503). Sudan ($0.70), Tunisia ($0.806), Liberia ($0.939), Gabon ($0.973), and Ghana ($1.026) make up the top ten on the list.

At the spectrum’s other end, the Central African Republic is the African country with the most expensive price at $1.83 per liter. Senegal ($1.646), Seychelles ($1.595), Zimbabwe ($1.590), Morocco ($1.527), and Uganda ($1.475) are other countries with costlier fuel price per litre, while Malawi ($1.458), Côte d’Ivoire($1.455), Kenya ($1.453), and Sierra Leone ($1.448) round up the list.

While the data indicate that Nigeria’s fuel price is commendable in relation to other African countries, it does not reveal Nigeria’s dire economic state. For instance, available data from July 2024 showed that Nigeria had the highest inflation rate among the cheapest fuel sellers at 33.4%. Angola, at 31.09% (June 2024), came close in second position, while Egypt (25.7%), Sudan (22.5% as of March 2024) and Ghana (20.9%) make up the top five. The rest selling the lowest fuel prices in Africa have inflation rates in single digits, starting with Libya at 2.3% (June 2024), Gabon (3.4%), Algeria (6.13% in June 2024), Liberia (6.2% in May 2024) and Tunisia (7%).

Among the countries selling costly fuel in Africa, only Zimbabwe’s inflated economy trumps Nigeria at 33.6%. Malawi (33.3% as of June 2024) and Sierra Leone (31.93% as of June 2024) are the other countries with double-digit inflation rates. Data from other countries present commendable single-digit inflation rates. As of July 2024, Seychelles has 0.61%, and Senegal follows with 0.7%. Despite selling Africa’s most expensive fuel price, CAR’s inflation rate was 1% in June 2024, while Morocco comes next with 1.3%. Other countries in this category are Uganda (4%), Côte d’Ivoire (4.1% in June 2024) and Kenya (4.3%).