Mozambique: Thousands queue for fuel in Pemba – Watch

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Mozambique: Thousands queue for fuel in Pemba – Watch

7:27 CAT | 20 Mar 2025

Screen grab: Miramar

Recently, thousands of Mozambicans have flocked to petrol stations in Pemba in search of petrol and diesel, which are in short supply. This has led to speculation on transport prices.

Since 13 March, the queues at the few petrol stations with fuel have been growing and those who manage to fill up may have had to wait more than five hours, whether it’s vehicles or all kinds of drums. According to state oil company Petromoc, this is due to the road being cut between the provinces of Nampula and Cabo Delgado due to the consequences of the recent cyclone Jude, and to the reduced local storage capacity.

“I’ve been here since 6 a.m., and so far, I haven’t got any fuel. And that’s all my job is, to be able to eat and walk on the road. So I can’t leave here without getting fuel,” said Momade Abdala, 33, a motorbike taxi driver in the city of Pemba, the capital of Cabo Delgado province, as he waited for his turn in a queue where thousands were pushing their vehicles under the scorching sun, trying to refuel.

In this scenario, he calls for an urgent solution to the problem, not least because Cabo Delgado is the main province producing hydrocarbons, in this case, natural gas, which is exported: “With all our mineral resources, which we have in Cabo Delgado, we suffer. We’re not Italians or Americans. It doesn’t make sense for us to suffer while the wealth is ours.”

In another queue waits Mahando Falume, 53, who has fuel for two or three days. However, the fear of running out before the province is refuelled has led him to wait for hours to try to refuel.

“I have to add to it to travel,” he said.

This fuel crisis in Cabo Delgado, the northernmost province in Mozambique, has led urban passenger transport operators in Pemba to speculate on transport prices, which the local authority’s intervention has since halted.

The Pemba Municipal Council claims that, despite the shortage, fuel prices have not changed enough to justify the increase in transport fares.