Page 4 - AfrOil Week 13 2020

AfrOil COMMENTARY AfrOil
Tanker trucks wait to load up with fuel outside the entrance to the port of Mombasa (Image: NMG)
Pestilence and paper-pushers
The coronavirus outbreak is putting pressure on Uganda’s fuel market, and Kenyan tax claims have the potential to make the situation worse
WHAT:
Closed borders and reductions in deliveries to Mombasa are complicating Ugandan companies’ efforts to take delivery of fuel.
WHY:
Uganda is also facing problems in Kenya as a result of demands for back taxes.
WHAT NEXT:
Ugandan fuel traders may need to look for other supply routes through Tanzania.
ACROSS Africa, petroleum product markets are under pressure.
With country after country closing their borders in the hope of curbing the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, many traders and distributors are having a difficult time gaining access to refined fuels and deliver- ing them to points of sale. As a result, consumers in some states have begun to worry about the security of their fuel supplies.
One of those states in this position is Uganda. Over the last week, the Ugandan press has been reporting that concerns are mounting about consumers’ ability to secure gasoline and diesel for their vehicles, and fuels such as kerosene for other purposes.
This essay will take a closer look at the situa- tion in the East African country.
Border crossings
The coronavirus outbreak has been a significant factor in the emergence of these less-than-fa- vourable supply conditions. Specifically, it has disrupted travel to Kenya, which is currently
controls the main transit route for overland fuel shipments into Uganda.
Typically, Ugandan fuel distributors obtain their supplies by sending tanker trucks across the border to Eldoret, the Kenyan city that hosts one of the terminals of the fuel conduit operated by Kenya Pipeline Co. (KPC).
But as The Monitor reported last week, Ugandan truck drivers have begun running into trouble at the border crossing at Busia on the way to Eldoret.
As of March 27, they were reportedly being held up, in accordance with the Kenyan govern- ment’s decision to close the country’s borders to rein in the spread of coronavirus.
For the record, Uganda has also closed its borders for the same reason, and it too has held
up Kenyan truckers attempting to travel in
the other direction. Likewise, both sides have argued over how to process and release the doc- uments that truckers must carry to cross the border in light of new public health policies –
and have worked together to hammer out tem- porary solutions. 
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w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 13 01•April•2020