If you filled up in Dakar this weekend and did a double-take at the pump, you weren't alone.

Well, it was good while it lasted.

Senegal has just put fuel prices back up, and the government says it simply had no choice. As of Saturday, 15th August, super petrol - what most of us call petrol - is now 990 CFA francs a litre, up 70 francs. Diesel has jumped even more, by 75 francs, to 755 CFA francs a litre.

For context, that's a direct reversal of the relief we got on 6th December last year, when the government actually cut prices to 920 CFA for super and 680 CFA for diesel to ease household costs.

So why the U-turn?

According to officials, it's all down to the conflict in the Middle East which kicked off on 28th February. Since then, global prices have gone absolutely wild - diesel up by 69% on the international market and super petrol up by 61%. Senegal, like most of West Africa, still imports almost all of its refined fuel, so when Brent crude sneezes, Dakar catches a cold.

And Dakar has been catching a very expensive cold.

The numbers are staggering. The government says it has already absorbed more than 245 billion CFA francs in fuel subsidies since January just to keep prices down. Its original 2026 budget for subsidies was only 250 billion CFA, based on oil at $85 a barrel. Finance Minister Cheikh Diba has warned that if Brent hits $115, that bill could balloon to a massive 1.39 trillion CFA - about $2 billion - nearly a fifth of the entire national budget.

Officials add that if they hadn't acted now, it would have cost the state another 47 billion CFA in a single month. As it stands, even with the new hike, pump prices are still below what it actually costs to import the fuel.

There is a tiny bit of good news: prices for other products are staying put. Gas (butane) and the subsidised fuel used for pirogues - so crucial for Senegal's fishing communities - remain unchanged.

This isn't new territory for Senegal. Back in January 2023, the government hiked fuel by 100 CFA under Macky Sall, pledging to ring-fence 450 billion CFA for social protection. The current government under Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko is walking the same tightrope - under pressure from the IMF to cut subsidies, but desperate not to crush households.

Despite producing its own oil and gas since last year, Senegal remains one of the most expensive places to buy petrol in the WAEMU region and on the continent. Even after last December's cut, at 920 CFA a litre, it was still among the priciest in the bloc. At today's new price, Senegal ranks second in Africa for high petrol costs, behind only a handful of countries.

The government's line? This is a "partial and measured" move. Social protection will continue for the most vulnerable.

Whether that softens the blow at the market and on the roads this week remains to be seen.

Source: cbinews.tv

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