Nigeria’s decision to eliminate fuel subsidies has had a significant impact, resulting in the collapse of a thriving black market in West African nations. This informal sector, which played a central role in the region’s economic activity, has been disrupted as the price of cheap contraband Premium Motor Spirit, better known as petrol, from Nigeria suddenly doubled.
In a report on Monday, American news platform, Reuters, noted that black market fuel vendors and commercial drivers in Cameroon, Benin and Togo, who heavily relied on smuggled petrol from Nigeria, have witnessed their businesses crumble since the subsidy removal. As fuel supplies dwindle, long queues have formed at official petrol stations, where prices are now competitive.
In Garoua, a town in North-West Cameroon near the Nigerian border, the cost of a litre of petrol on the black market used to be around 300 CFA francs (about $0.48) but it has skyrocketed to a minimum of 600 CFA francs,…