Several stations have been short fuel products for the past few days in the Yaounde.

Long queues of vehicles, crowds of motorbike taxis and other individuals holding cans in hand, arguments and other outbursts of voices… This is the situation at several fuel stations this morning, Monday, January 09, 2023. For the past few days, the shortage of fuel has been felt again in the political capital of Cameroon.

The effects of this shortage of petroleum products are not long in coming. In the streets this morning, there are endless queues of people waiting to get into taxis and mini-buses that connect the centre of the capital to the suburbs.

This is the third time in less than six months that Cameroon has experienced a fuel shortage. Less than two months ago, all cities were affected. The authorities took measures in October to supply the local market. 4,000 metric tonnes of gas arrived by a 118m long tanker at the Port of Douala-Bonaberi on Wednesday 19 October 2022. A ship with 8,000 metric tonnes of gas that was already off Nigeria was due to enter. Then, around 25 October, the National Oil Depot Company announced the imminent arrival of seven more vessels.

All these things have allowed the pumps in Yaoundé to go through the last few weeks without a drought. But the lull only lasted for a while. The government, which explains the situation by the persistence of the war in Ukraine, says it is making every effort to both supply the local market and maintain the price at the pump.

“Thus, during the year 2022, nearly 700 billion CFA francs were spent by the Treasury as subsidies for fuel and 75 billion CFA francs for domestic gas,” said President Paul Biya on December 31, 2022 during his speech to the Nation. At the same time, the Head of State foresaw a possible increase in prices at the pump.