"The Government has already been subsidizing fuel for many years, what is necessary is for the Government to create minimum conditions so that the people do not become alarmed", says Manuel Nazaré, in statements to Lusa, at the Sonangol filling station, in Avenida Comandante Gika, in Luanda.
The retired man filled up the car accompanied by his wife, Manuel Nazaré, and acknowledged that he spends more on buying water than filling up the car.
Angola is the fourth country in the world where it is cheaper to fill a fuel tank. While in Europe - and in Portugal, in particular - motorists opt for utility vehicles and take fuel consumption into account at the time of purchase, in Angola, a country endowed with a car park where robust jeeps and 'pickups' abound, this does not seems to be a concern, since it is almost always cheaper to water the car than quench thirst.
While the average price of 1.5 liters of bottled water is around 180 kwanzas, a liter of gasoline costs 160 kwanzas, that is, five times less than in Portugal, according to the Global Petrol Prices website, with data updated in January 2023 .
"The Government has warned several times that the IMF (International Monetary Fund) wants to make this adjustment", he said, adding that conditions should be created for workers "to compensate" for the increase in fuel.
At the same gas station, Marcelino André asks for consideration, noting that many Angolans live far from their workplace. And he set an example, spending 16,000 kwanzas a week on fuel alone.
“It is worrying (removing fuel subsidies), since wages are low and I believe that it does not go well either”, he stressed.
Moisés Augusto, who works on his own, fears the “consequences” of the end of subsidies: “It will bring many consequences, first because the base salary here is not great and then I believe that things here in Angola have only gone up and that is very disadvantageous for us citizens who consume, it is not good”.
Sitting in the car, Moisés Augusto offers a simple solution: “Wages should go up more and only then could things gradually go up, like fuel, and the basic food basket should go down”.
Only Venezuela, Libya and Iran sell gasoline cheaper than Angola, while in diesel, whose liter costs 135 kwanzas, Saudi Arabia and Algeria are still ahead in the table, pushing Angola to sixth place on the list.
The low prices of Angolan fuel are also an attraction for smugglers who circulate between the border of Angola and the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo, with annual losses estimated at two billion dollars, according to data revealed by the Police. National in November last year.
Angola shares with Nigeria the status of the largest oil producer in Africa, but imports a large part of the fuel it consumes, with only one refinery in operation (in Luanda) and three others in the design or construction phase (Soyo, Lobito and Cabinda) .
In the first quarter of 2022 alone, the Government subsidized AOA 339.7 billion in fuel distributed across the country.
The Minister of Finance admitted, last December, that the country is negotiating with international partners the appropriate compensation for the removal of state subsidies on fuel prices, a political decision that has not yet been taken.
According to Vera Daves, Angola is analyzing with the IMF and the World Bank (WB) the “possible” measures to mitigate the social impact, because the “concerns remain” regarding the potential social impact of the removal of fuel subsidies, which are priced very low and do not reflect the international market fluctuations.
An employee of a private company, Cristóvão Domingues fills up his vehicle two or three times a week at the Sonangap gas station, in the Alvalade neighbourhood, and asks “prudence and consultation with the population”.
This issue is “dramatic, removing fuel subsidies. It would be a little disastrous for those who own the vehicles, like me, it would not be good for the Government to take this initiative”, pointed out Cristóvão Domingues who admits the irony of Angola having bottled water more expensive than gasoline.
“I think that water should be provided free of charge to citizens, we have many rivers here and there was no need for a liter of water to be at a higher price”, concluded Cristóvão.
