Monday, January 16, 2012

OIL CRISIS IN NIGERIA : SHORTAGE OF “KPAYO” IN BENIN

By Ayodele SAMUEL in Lagos and Ablawa BOKO in Cotonou The price of gasoline adulterated commonly called “kpayo” tripled in Republic of Benin following price increase in neighboring Nigeria . The kpayo (the fuel sold in informal sector brought from Nigeria to Benin ) sold usually between 250 and 300 francs (Cfa) per liter, increased to 400 francs on Saturday. Since then, the price of gasoline has climbed. Currently, it is sold at 700 francs per liter. “At the wholesale level, the container purchased 8000 CFA before, is sold today to retailers at 14,000 CFA francs”, said Razack, selling fuel in Cotonou . Within days, the price of kpayo has soared across Benin . This has an effect on people whose main source of fuel is the informal sector. The shortage was related to the recent increase in PMS in border country Nigeria . "Every increase in pump price in Nigeria affects , the distribution of kpayo knows some disruption." said Ernest, fuel seller at Gbégamey ( Cotonou ). Raphael, a client, is surprised that this has lasted as long. "Usually, this crisis comes at the holiday season, and just after, the trend is the opposite," he said. Except that this year, the crisis seems very deep and there are many reasons to worry. The removal of subsidies on fuel prices in Nigeria is the cause. THE GIANT OF AFRICA COUGHS, BENIN CATCHES COLD The Nigerian government announcement on last Sunday has resulted in increase prices at the pump. Nigeria is the first oil producer in West Africa and the only supplier of fuel to the biggest sector of fuel selling in Benin , the informal sector. Because of the removal of subsidies on fuel prices and this oil crisis in Nigeria , the customer begins to feel it very difficult to get fuel. The sellers are speculative and prices vary from one seller to another. Some sellers of kpayo had to store their tables and bottles to engage in other activities. In the ranks of motorcycle taxi drivers called “Zémidjan”, prices are revised upwards. For a distance, a week ago to 100 CFA francs, now it costs more and sometimes twice. The price of travel from one place to another have also increased. Taxi drivers in the international destination of Burkina Faso , Cote d'Ivoire and Togo have also revised their tariff. Some have parked their cars and waiting for the return of the situation to normal. Traffic is more fluid. Clients reconnect with products Sonacop A 800 Francs per liter, the kpayo is very expensive, more expensive than the pump. " The sellers of adulterated gasoline stormed the stations where they refueled to go sell it. Note also that the stations were not prepared for such a crowd" left hear a station manager of the place. According to Ernest, the kpayo was firmly rooted in the habits in Benin . It's like a reflex, people do not ask too many questions. For this purpose they are hopeful that the crisis will be resolved very quickly. Otherwise, the purchasing power of the Benin risks becoming weak. " With a few differences, prices at the stations of Sonacop (national society of marketing of petroleum products) are currently below than those charged by sellers of kpayo. In Sonacop stations, gasoline is sold at 570 FCFA. The rush to these places begins to increase and once daily sales begin to improve. Some students were forced to park their bike at home. They prefer to walk or seek the services of their comrade. SUBSIDIES PRODUCT FROM NIGERIA FIND ITS WAY TO BENIN Large quantity of Nigeria’s PMS are daily smuggled into the Republic of Benin through its Badagry/ Seme porous border after the Nigeria government has subsidies the product for its citizen. In spite of the removal of petrol subsidy by the Federal Government, smuggling of the product into neighboring Benin Republic persists because of price differential. The border towns of Owode and Kpogidi in the Seme-Badagry area of Lagos state, showed that though the removal of the subsidy has increased the price per litre in Nigeria to about N140, the same litre was N250, officially, in Benin Republic . Though the black market price of a litre of smuggled Nigeria petrol in Benin Republic has been increased to N200, it was still cheaper than buying from filling stations there at N250. Until the January 1 deregulation which raised the pump price of petrol from N65 to about N140, smuggled Nigeria petrol was sold at N100 per litre in Benin Republic, while it was N200 a litre at the filling stations in the Francophone country. Residents of Kpogidi (a border town )hardly patronised the filling stations that sold at the official pump price of N250 per litre. the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Sanusi Lamido had said most of the products claimed to have been imported found their way to neighbouring countries through unscrupulous marketers. For further information on this report contact, Ayodele Samuel in Lagos , Nigeria is a reporter with Peoples Daily Newspaper could be contact on gtms06@yahoo.com Ablawa BOKO in Cotonou , Republic of Benin , is a reporter with Tamtam-afrik newspapers: contact address nadbok@yahoo.fra

No comments:

Post a Comment