Motorists in Maputo, Mozambique’s capital city, are spending hours in queues stretching hundreds of metres as fuel stations across the city run dry, leaving drivers pushing empty vehicles along the streets and transport operators fearing they may have to stop working altogether.
The crisis, which has worsened this week, is being felt hardest by ride-hailing drivers, taxi operators and txopela drivers, the motorised tricycles that carry passengers through Maputo’s streets, who depend entirely on fuel to earn a living.
Manuel Ponge, a ride-hailing driver, spent his morning moving between stations before finding one still open. He had been waiting for 25 minutes when he spoke to journalists, hoping to buy the maximum allowed at the pump: 1,000 meticais, roughly E313. 
“Very critical, as you can see,” he said, surrounded by congestion caused by long rows of cars either waiting to refuel or holding their place for when supply arrives.
“We have to endure this queue to ensure we get fuel, even if in a very limited way. From what I was told, it is only 1,000 meticais per person,” he added.
Ponge said he still had enough fuel for about three days and was rationing carefully. “Waiting for the situation to improve. Saving enough for another three or four days and then we will see,” he said, calling for “priority for transport operators” in refuelling, as they are the “solution” to the current problem.
A mobile application developed within hours of the crisis deepening has been widely shared among drivers, updating them in real time on which stations are open and supplying fuel.
Taxi driver Yussufo Vicente had been queuing since early morning. “I have been here since morning still looking for fuel and only now I am going to refuel,” he said after waiting several hours. “If the problem continues, my expectation is to stop. All of us will be stopped. There is no way, we will just stay at home.”
António Manuel, who has driven a txopela for 15 years, has managed to get only 2.5 litres of fuel since Tuesday. “We are going through very difficult times. We do not even know what our lives will be like in the near future, because we depend on transport to feed our families,” he said. He described the daily search for fuel as “a war” and the overall situation as “chaotic.” “There is no more business. We may just park the vehicles and who knows what. Maybe go back to the countryside and take up the hoe,” he said.
Avelino Fonda, another driver, managed to get only 10 litres of diesel over two days. He waited 30 minutes at one station after spending two hours at another, only to find it had run out by the time he reached the pump. “This is going to get even harder,” he said.
Assifo Ussene left his car at home after it ran to reserve and arrived at a station on a lift from a friend. “I do not even know how I will continue working. We were almost being served and when it was our turn they signalled that there was no more petrol,” he said, calling on the government to stop stations from exploiting the situation. “I will keep waiting for a miracle and for things to improve. I will keep doing my work without a car,” he said.
The Mozambican government acknowledged the pressure on Tuesday but stopped short of declaring a shortage. “Indeed, we have been monitoring some pressure at the pumps. The information available is that there is still stock available. I cannot here state how many days or weeks, but this is an issue being monitored daily at government level,” said Minister Salim Valá, government spokesperson.
The government says the queues are driven by an “economic dynamic” based on “perceptions and expectations” rather than an actual shortage, pointing to guarantees that stock is available until May.
President Daniel Chapo, however, warned on Tuesday that fuel price increases are coming. “The new prices will have to come,” he said, linking the crisis to the conflict in the Middle East, which is directly affecting Mozambique. He said 80% of the country’s fuel imports pass through the Strait of Hormuz, currently blocked by Iran and the United States.
“As long as the war continues, we will not be able to keep stretching the current prices for much longer,” said Chapo.
