Burundi paralysed by fuel shortages as leaders blame lack of dollars
June 6, 2017
Fuel shortages have paralysed Burundi, threatening further damage to an economy already moribund after years of political violence and raising questions about the role of the country’s only oil importer.
The problem has damaged two big foreign investors, Kenya’s KenolKobil and South Africa’s Engen, a subsidiary of Malaysian parastatal Petronas.
The shortages, which forced the government to introduce rationing on May 16, have paralysed commerce and caused food prices to jump by around a third, raising the prospect of a wave of economic migration. More than 400 000 people have already fled Burundi into the volatile central African region.
Anti-corruption campaigners said the fuel shortages became severe after Burundian company Interpetrol Trading Ltd received the lions’ share of dollars that the central bank allocated to import fuel.
