Tete, Mozambique, May 7, 2026 (Lusa) - The president of Mozambique acknowledged that fuel price hikes were inevitable following a 45% rise in diesel prices, saying that they remain among the lowest in the region and calling for calm.
Upon arriving in Tete for a working visit on Thursday, Daniel Chapo explained that the fuel crisis was a global issue rather than one unique to Mozambique, saying that the government had decided on the increase after attempting to hold prices steady for nearly two months in the hope that the war in the Middle East would end.
In a meeting with local residents, he recalled that the government had been warning over the past two months that it would hold out until late April or early May, due to the conflict in the Middle East and its impact on supply chains depending on fuel stocks, before adjusting prices, which had remained unchanged for over a year.
With the arrival of tankers carrying fuel at higher prices and a crisis in the market, with petrol stations closed, widespread queues and activities grinding to a halt across the country due to a lack of fuel, the situation has changed.
“We have no choice but to change, so that they too can stabilise supplies at petrol stations and stop selling on the black market, so that we can have fuel and carry on living.”
Despite the hike, he acknowledged that Mozambique’s fuel prices remained the lowest in the region, compared with those of neighbouring Zimbabwe, Malawi, Zambia, and South Africa.
“That is why we cannot allow the enemies of development, the enemies of peace, the enemies of stability to spread rumours, misinformation and stir up Mozambique's public,” he said.
“Let us focus on production, because only by producing can we ensure that this global crisis of war and fuel shortages, which is unfolding across the world, like Covid-19, did not affect us,” he added, calling for national unity and cohesion.
The price of diesel will rise by 45.5% and petrol by 12.1% per litre in Mozambique, the government has announced, justifying the fuel price hike with international market prices.
"For over two months, the government has been closely monitoring the evolution of the conflict in the Middle East, which has triggered a rise in fuel prices internationally and across the African continent and in Southern Africa in particular.
There has been a generalised rise in prices,” the chairman of the Board of Directors of the Energy Regulatory Authority, Paulo da Graça, told journalists following the cabinet meeting in Maputo on Wednesday evening.
A litre of petrol now costs 93.69 meticais (€1.23), up from the previous price of 83.57 meticais (€1.10).
The price of diesel has risen from 79.88 meticais (€1.06) to 116.25 meticais (€1.54), lamp oil from 66.86 meticais (€0.87) to 97.56 meticais (€1.29), cooking gas from 86.05 meticais (€1.14) to 87.82 meticais (€1.15) per kilogram, and vehicle natural gas from 41.11 meticais (€0.54) to 52.73 meticais (€0.69) per litre, in accordance with the new price list.
PVJ/MYAL // ADB.
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