Being net importers of petroleum goods, there are a number of African countries that are extremely susceptible to changes in the price of oil globally. However, local factors such as inflation and fuel scarcity can also affect fuel costs.
Top 10 African countries with the highest fuel prices in October 2024
One of the main factors that influence the cost of fuel is the global price of crude oil. African nations must endure price increases when they import oil due to OPEC regulations, supply interruptions, geopolitical events, and changes in global demand.
OPEC reports also link the rising cost of fuel to factors like taxes imposed by governments, including those of major oil-consuming nations. As a result, industries such as transportation must bear the brunt of increased fuel costs, which in most cases, ripple down to the everyday consumers.
Manufacturing, logistics, and agriculture, which rely heavily on transportation, are also at risk of experiencing larger operational costs with the increase of fuel prices.
Higher gasoline prices can slow economic development by limiting investment, consumer expenditure, and productivity.
The global average fuel price is currently 1.27 U.S. dollars per liter, compared to 1.29 U.S. dollars per liter last month.
With that said, here are the ten African countries with the highest fuel prices in October 2024, according to GlobalPetrolPrices.com, which last updated its index on the 14th October 2024.
Top 10 African countries with the highest fuel prices in October 2024
| Rank | Country | Fuel price | Global rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Central Africa Republic | $1.828 | 21st |
| 2. | Senegal | $1.654 | 31st |
| 3. | Seychelles | $1.500 | 47th |
| 4. | Zimbabwe | $1.490 | 49th |
| 5. | Ivory Coast | $1.462 | 53rd |
| 6. | Malawi | $1.458 | 55th |
| 7. | Mauritius | $1.430 | 58th |
| 8. | Sierra Leone | $1.423 | 59th |
| 9. | Burkina Faso | $1.420 | 60th |
| 10. | Mali | $1.420 | 61st |
In line with the drop in the global average fuel price, CAR, Senegal, Seychelles, Zimbabwe, Ivory Coast, Mauritius and Burkina Faso all experienced a marginal decline in fuel prices.
The price of fuel in Malawi remained the same.
Sierra Leone and Mali are new additions to the top 10 list for the current month.
