Madagascar’s government has imported a shipment of diesel to help ease energy supply disruptions triggered by the Iran war, but it has angered a group of private companies by bypassing them under a new system where the state imports fuel directly.
The diesel cargo arrived on Wednesday. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the state entity entrusted with overseeing fuel imports told Reuters the volume was 63 000 cubic metres and the fuel came from Asia, negotiated with Nigeria’s Sahara Group.
“We were facing an emergency, so the company negotiated with the vessel that was closest and could be quickly rerouted to Madagascar,” Guillot Ramilison, CEO of State Procurement of Madagascar, told Reuters by phone.
President Michael Randrianirina said thanks to the diesel cargo the country’s power and water utility Jirama should not have fuel problems for six months.
In April, Madagascar declared a nationwide state of emergency over fuel shortages linked to the conflict in the Middle East.
Its National Assembly passed a law reforming the downstream petroleum sector and nationalising the country’s fuel imports whereas previously a group of private operators oversaw imports.
The private operators, which include units of TotalEnergies and global commodities trader Vitol, said the government had requisitioned an oil-storage facility at the port of Toamasina, preventing them from unloading another tanker they had arranged carrying diesel, unleaded fuel and kerosene.
–Reuters–
