Motorists wait for hours in Abuja, Nigeria to fill their cars with petrol, due to the ongoing fuel shortage. A shortage of oil refineries across sub-Saharan Africa coupled with soaring crude prices because of the war in Ukraine has left countries dangerously short of fuel supplies, disrupting airlines and causing queues at filling stations. The surge in prices comes in tandem with a spike in the cost of food after Russia sent troops into Ukraine, hitting tens of millions of people already living in precarious conditions, as well as government and aid agency budgets. Refineries across sub-Saharan Africa combined can process 1.36 million barrels of oil a day (bpd), in theory, but with many out of action, only 30 per cent of that capacity was used last year, according to independent consultancy CITAC. Refineries in Cameroon, Ghana and Senegal are shut, as are four in South Africa. Africa’s biggest […]