Page 8 - DMEA Week 11 2020

DMEA COMMENTARY DMEA
Fuel market survey:
Ghana, Nigeria,
Angola, Kenya
Lower oil prices are raising questions about current pricing policies
AFRICA
The downturn in world oil prices is already having an impact on fuel markets in Africa. This article offers a brief look at recent developments in four African states.
THE downturn in world oil prices is already having an impact on fuel markets in Africa. This article offers a brief look at recent developments in four African states.
Ghana
Ghana’s main opposition party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has urged Presi- dent Nana Akufo-Addo to authorise an imme- diate 20% reduction in gasoline prices.
In a statement dated March 9, the party explained its demand by pointing out that cur- rent gasoline prices did not adequately reflect developments on world oil markets. Even though the price of Brent grade crude has fallen by more than 40% since the beginning of the year, it said, Ghanaian consumers have only seen a minimal drop at the pump.
Gasoline is now selling for GHC5.38 ($0.97) per litre, down from GHC5.62 ($1.01) per litre as of January 1, it noted. This represents a decline of less than 5%, which the statement described as “an insignificant and paltry reduction.”
Under these circumstances, said Sammy
Gyamfi, NDC’s national communication officer, consumers deserve nothing less than a 20% price cut. “Anything short of this should be fiercely rejectedbytheGhanaianpeople,”hewasquoted as saying in the statement. “This, we believe, will reduce the extreme economic hardship in the country and ameliorate the plight of suffering Ghanaians.”
NDC was not alone in its call for price cuts. Ghana’s Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC) declared on March 10 that a reduction of 10-32% was in order, in light of falling crude oil prices. “It is our expectation in the coming few days that the various oil marketing compa- nies ... will ensure the Ghanaian [consumer] is given nothing but the full benefit of these sus- tained reductions in fuel prices on the interna- tional market,” the group said in a statement.
Nigeria
Meanwhile, the Major Oil Marketers Associa- tion of Nigeria (MOMAN) has begun pushing the government to respond to the decline in crude prices by revising exchange rates. Last
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