Reportage
“There is no gasoline”: Conakry affected by a fuel shortage
Audio 01:22
In the streets of Conakry, two people riding a two-wheeler drive past graffiti evoking the Covid-19 pandemic.
AP - Sunday Alamba
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
Conakry has been idling since Monday.
The Guinean capital is suffering from a gasoline shortage.
On Friday, gas stations were just starting to be delivered but restocking will take time.
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With our correspondent in Conakry
,
Matthias Raynal
In Conakry, the roads are almost empty.
And at the station, it is always the same sentence that must be repeated to customers: “
There is no gasoline.
We only have diesel.
But it's coming
."
Mawa Sylla, the service station manager sheathes the fuel pump gun, now dry.
She does not remember having experienced such a shortage.
And she's been working in the industry for 26 years.
“
It was war.
We were insulted father and mother.
Me, I had to call the gendarmes and when they came, it was really good.
Until then, they are there to secure us
,” she says.
At Sonap, the public company which has been managing the import of petroleum products for several months, the general manager justifies himself: the last delivery was delayed due to a change of supplier and the slowness of financial institutions to give their green light for the transaction.
A boat filled with gasoline thus remained stuck for several days in front of the port of Conakry, without being able to dock.
But the end of the galley is approaching.
Friday, a boat was finally able to unload its cargo at the port of Conakry: “
The good news is that it has come now.
So I ask everyone to calm down.
They will start to supply
, ”adds the manager.
Mohamed Touré, motorcycle taxi, had to turn to the black market: “
Fuel is expensive
on the black market.
Some sell a liter at 40,000, at 50,000
”.
From 4 to 5.50 euros per litre.
Mohamed was forced to inflate his own prices by 50%: “
It's not easy, honestly.
If it continues like this, we cannot get out of it
”.
Many of his clients preferred to stay home this week.
In companies and administrations, offices were sparse.
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Guinea
Economy