In Senegal, the high cost of fuel shocks. It is also a record in the UEMOA space despite the 16 million barrels of oil produced in 2024. In front of this situation, economic actors begin to lose patience, the government tempers. The effects of oil and gas exploitation are slow to be felt.
Like every morning on Monday in Dakar, traffic is seriously slowed down on the highway leading to the city center. The drivers are forced to mark the step. At the end of a ramp, the atmosphere is at its climax. The public transport pulse is very strong. The touts and drivers swallow, calling for various destinations. Concentrated certainly but they are very interested in the current price of fuel.
Blue T-shirt, blackened by motor oil, Ismaila Sall, her face closed, expresses all her desolation. In his eyes, the fuel is abnormally expensive. “Since the arrival of the new diet of Bassirou Diomaye Faye, we have been waiting for the drop in the price of fuel. But it hasn’t been anything for a year. We deplore this high cost. Paying 1.52 euros (1000 FCFA) is still expensive to pay. The cost of living is high. Households are tired. We suffer, ”laments the player in the transport sector.
A few meters from him, a group of men is in full discussion. The exchanges relate to politics, in particular on the tense situation between power and opposition. The garage leader, Abdou Fall even if he is an activist of the ruling party affirms his disappointment. “It is inconceivable to have the liter of gasoline at 1.52 euros. In Mali it costs less. The state must rule this problem. A strike is not to be ruled out if there is no decline in the coming months, ”plans Abdou Fall.
No effect of the exploitation of hydrocarbons
Fuel is expensive in Senegal. Moreover, the country presents the price of the highest litter of gasoline in the UEMOA zone. It is sold at 1.52 euros at the time when the liter costs 1.30 euros in the coast, 0.75 euros in Niger, 1.06 euros in Benin, 1.18 euros in Mali, 1.30 euros in Burkina Faso and 1.04 euros in Togo.
-For the energy expert and hydrocarbons, Mbaye Hadj, the adjustment of the fuel price obeys several logics. “There is a common denominator in UEMOA countries: the cost price of petroleum derived products when they arrive at ports. This cost includes three main components: the price of crude oil, the cost of refining and port taxes, which can vary from country to country, ”underlines the specialist.
According to the pump prices, even in a homogeneous regional space such as UEMOA, depend on several additional factors, such as transport and logistics costs, specific taxes on petroleum products specific to each country, and the margin of distributors.
Thus, he deduces that the high price of fuel in Senegal compared to the sub -region is mainly explained by the level of these taxes. “Let us take the example of Mali, where the fuel passes through Senegal. Transport and logistics costs are naturally higher than in Senegal. However, prices at the pump are often lower. This is probably explained by less heavy taxation: Mali probably applies less taxes on fuel than Senegal, ”underlines Mbaye Hadj.
In Senegal, supercurant taxes represent 48.5 %, when Mali is 27.82 % and 34.9 % in Côte d’Ivoire.
The government tempers
Continuing his analysis, the expert Mbaye Hadj considers that the exploitation and the refinery of Senegalese oil by Senegal itself can certainly contribute to a significant drop in the prices of derivative products such as diesel, petrol, kerosene or even pirogue essence. This reduction, in his eyes, would have a positive domino effect on the whole of the national economy.
However, he notes that such a dynamic requires a global strategy ranging from the training of local skills to upgrading or building infrastructure adapted to the treatment of hydrocarbons. “Regarding gas and the drop in electricity: natural gas represents a major opportunity to lower the cost of electricity in the country, which still depends at almost 70 % of fuel imports,” says Mbaye Hadj.
On the government side, no exact date or periodicity is given to meet the demand concerning the drop in the price of fuel. For the Minister of Petroleum and Energies, Birame Soulèye Diop, Legovernment works with all the services concerned, under the supervision of the Ministry of Energy, Oil and Mines, for a drop in prices of petroleum and electricity products, as well as better targeting of the subsidy.
