Fuel prices are rising sharply across Africa as the ongoing conflict involving the United States, Israel and Iran continues to disrupt global oil supply chains, with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz sending shockwaves through an already fragile energy landscape on the continent.
In Ghana, the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) raised its mandatory minimum price floors for the April 1 to 15 pricing window, pushing petrol prices up approximately 15 percent to GH¢13.30 per litre and diesel by nearly 19 percent to GH¢17.10 per litre. The increases follow a 26 percent surge in global crude oil prices during the pricing window, with Brent crude climbing from around $86 to more than $109 per barrel, compounded by a depreciation of the cedi against the US dollar.
Malawi has recorded some of the steepest increases on the continent. The Energy Regulatory Authority there raised petrol prices by 34 percent and diesel by 35 percent. Tanzania’s regulator set a new petrol price cap of 3,820 shillings per litre in Dar es Salaam, a 33 percent rise, with diesel up by the same margin. Gambia raised petrol by nearly 19 percent and diesel by more than 12 percent. Mauritania, which raised petrol by 15.3 percent and diesel by 10 percent, compared the scale of the shock to the 1973 oil crisis.
South Africa moved to soften the blow. Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana announced a one-month cut in the general fuel levy of three rand per litre, costing the state approximately six billion rand in lost revenue, with the government reserving the right to extend the relief into May and June depending on how long the conflict persists. Namibia went further, cutting fuel levies by 50 percent for three months.
The price surge is being driven by Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow corridor through which roughly 20 percent of global seaborne oil trade normally passes. The conflict, which began on February 28, 2026, following US and Israeli strikes on Iran, has effectively halted commercial tanker traffic through the waterway, removing an estimated 4.5 to 5 million barrels per day from global supply, according to analysts at BCA Research. Brent crude surged from around $69 per barrel in February to peaks above $126 per barrel during March, its largest monthly rise in nearly four decades.
For Africa, the consequences are particularly acute. Most countries on the continent are net importers of refined petroleum products, leaving them exposed to both price volatility and supply disruption. Even oil-producing nations such as Nigeria remain vulnerable because they lack sufficient domestic refining capacity to convert crude output into usable fuel at scale.
NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman of the African Energy Chamber (AEC), argued in a recent media appearance that Africa’s repeated exposure to external energy shocks is structural rather than accidental. He said the continent must pursue energy sovereignty through aggressive investment in domestic oil and gas production, refining capacity and infrastructure. Without these foundations, he said, African economies will remain at the mercy of global events they neither caused nor control. The AEC noted separately that Africa’s Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) sector stands to benefit in the longer term, as European and Asian buyers increasingly seek lower-risk alternative suppliers to the disrupted Middle East routes.
The economic consequences are already cascading. Rising fuel costs are feeding into transport prices, food inflation and industrial input costs. The broader risk is that a prolonged conflict could shave off growth projections and intensify cost-of-living pressures for millions of people across a continent where many governments have limited fiscal room to respond. Ghana’s President John Mahama said the government was considering steps to cushion consumers, including reviewing fuel margins and exploring a formal supply agreement with Nigeria’s Dangote refinery as an alternative source of refined petroleum.
