The Mozambican government recognised this Monday (31) that some petrol stations are facing difficulties in obtaining bank guarantees from commercial banks, a situation that has conditioned the supply of fuel in certain regions of the country.
‘There is fuel in the country. What is happening is that some companies are facing obstacles in obtaining guarantees from commercial banks, which are necessary to ensure that the product is placed on the market,’ said the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, Estêvão Pale, on the sidelines of a technical meeting held in Ponta do Ouro, Maputo province.
The situation is taking place in a context of a shortage of foreign currency, according to the minister, which makes access to credit difficult and jeopardises the regularity of supply in some areas, such as Pemba (Cabo Delgado) and Beira (Sofala), where there have already been occasional shortages in supply, leading to price speculation.
The minister assured, however, that the government is coordinating efforts with the central bank and commercial banks to overcome these limitations, emphasising that there is no rupture in national fuel stocks.
On 24 March, the Association of Fuel Retailers of Mozambique warned of fluctuations in supply, which were intermittently leaving some stations without specific products. ‘There is no generalised disruption, but there is instability in some supply chains,’ said the association’s president, Nelson Mavimbe.
In view of the constraints in the north of the country, Mozambican President Daniel Chapo announced the mobilisation of alternative logistical solutions, namely the use of maritime transport (cabotage) from the port of Nacala, in Nampula, to supply the province of Cabo Delgado. ‘We are organising ourselves to guarantee supply by sea while we don’t restore normality to the land routes,’ he said.
Mozambique faces cyclical challenges in the management and distribution of fuel, strongly conditioned by the exchange rate context and logistical infrastructures, with a direct impact on market stability and urban and rural mobility.
Source: Lusa
