Severe fuel shortages in Nigeria hit the services of Africa’s largest mobile telecoms operator, MTN, on Monday and forced Guaranty Trust Bank to close its branches nationwide at lunchtime, the companies said.
“Services are already degraded and some of our customers are already feeling the impact,” Funmilayo Onajide, a spokeswoman for South Africa-based MTN, said.
Africa’s biggest crude producer subsidizes gasoline heavily and depends on imports for the bulk of its domestic fuel due to inadequate refineries. The gasoline importers say they are owed money from the government and have shut depots until their demands have been met.
The telecommunications, banking and aviation sectors have been brought to a virtual standstill because fuel is needed to power the private generators that produce most of the electricity in the nation of 170 million. MTN had nearly 60 million users in Nigeria in 2014 – about 27 percent of its entire subscriber base across 22 countries – making Africa’s most populous country its biggest revenue contributor. A number of radio and television stations have gone off air because of fuel scarcity to power their generators in the absence of power.
In the commercial hub of Lagos, the usually gridlocked streets were relatively clear during the Monday morning rush-hour because many drivers had run out of petrol. Some drivers resorted to buying black market fuel for 500 naira ($2.53) per litre, more than five times the 87 naira per litre subsidised price.
