•For the benefit of household consumption
• Bottles diverted by market gardeners, manufacturers, restaurateurs and taxis
• Control and repression operations currently being prepared
Lhe availability of gas for the needs of populations is a recurring question with multiple issues. Butane gas shortages are common in large cities and rural areas. However, the government has taken measures to facilitate access to gas in Burkina Faso. “The subsidy on the sale of gas dates from the years of the revolution. It represents the part of the real cost that the State pays to provide some relief to gas users. The subsidy was initiated by the State for the benefit of consumers and not for SONABHY or gas distributors,” explained Désiré Ouédraogo, president of the Technical Unit of the Interministerial Committee for the Determination of Hydrocarbon Prices (CIDPH). It was during a day of discussions with journalists, on April 24, 2024, in Ouagadougou. The subsidy aimed to facilitate household access to gas, in order to combat logging, deforestation and the encroachment of the desert. To achieve its objectives, the State has adopted regulatory texts and created structures. The CIDPH, which is one of these structures, makes a monthly assessment of the cost of gas at the international level.
According to the president of the Technical Unit, the amount of the subsidy is calculated from this data. Thus, since February 2024, the subsidy has been set at 508.44 FCFA per kilo. According to the calculation method, the State subsidizes at 3,050.64 FCFA per 6 kilogram bottle and has set the subsidized selling price at 2,000 to the consumer. For 12.5 kg bottles, the State pays 5,022.13 FCFA per bottle for the benefit of the consumer who pays 5,500 FCFA to buy the bottle.
Despite these efforts, gas remains unavailable to the Burkinabè. After analysis, the members of the Interministerial Committee for Determining Hydrocarbon Prices identified the crux of the problem: the subsidized gas is used for commercial purposes. To remedy this, they proposed and obtained the adoption of Joint Order No. 2024-003/MDICAPME/MEFP of February 6, 2024 listing the elements of the price structure of butane gas and setting its prices. According to article no. 3 of this Order, it is strictly prohibited to use subsidized gas for commercial activities. “The purpose of today’s meeting is to say that we must no longer use subsidized gas to do business,” said François Xavier Bambara, Project Manager at the Ministry of Economy, Finance and of Prospective and member of the CIDPH.
Gas is used by households as well as market gardeners, manufacturers, taxi drivers, restaurants and hotels. The subsidy is starting to weigh heavily on the state budget. Over the last eleven years, the State has paid 371.25 billion FCFA, or more than 37 billion per year, to allow households to have access to gas at a reduced price. For the first quarter of 2024, the State already owes 19.28 billion FCFA to the Burkinabè National Hydrocarbons Company (Sonabhy) as a gas subsidy.
Control and repression operations currently being prepared
Faced with the continued increase in the amount of the subsidy and the unavailability of gas for households, the State has therefore decided to prohibit the use of subsidized gas by market gardeners, manufacturers, taxi drivers, restaurants , hotels and other traders. In addition to the issuance of the Order, surveillance actions will be carried out more frequently on the ground by the Mobile Economic Control and Fraud Repression Brigade (BMCRF).
The Brigade’s mission is to combat economic and commercial fraud, counterfeiting, clandestine storage, illicit competitive practices, price and stock control and the repression of observed infractions. It organizes unannounced outings in the field or intervenes following denunciations of prices not respected by citizens. In January 2024, BMCRF men controlled more than 527 dealers in Ouagadougou, 66 restaurants and hotels. These outings led to the seizure of 1,717 bottles. The BMCRF also recorded 73 complaints and denunciations from citizens regarding non-compliance with butane gas prices. “Repressive actions will continue on the ground,” say the members of the BMCRF.
Issa SAWADOGO (Contributor)
RAF
