Cote d’Ivoire: Abidjan Residents Protest Sudden Fuel Price Rise

Thousands of business-owners have closed down their shops across the capital today and several of the city’s main roads have been blocked in protest of a government decision to stop fuel subsidies, which caused prices to rise steeply overnight.

The government, which has been subsidising fuel prices for the past three years, removed these subsidies on 6 July because it could no longer afford to keep them in place. As a result the price of a litre of fuel rose by 29 percent in 24 hours, and the price of diesel by 44 percent.
“After resisting for a long time, we did not have any alternative but to make this adjustment. It was a difficult decision to take,” Prime Minister Guillaume Soro announced on the radio on 9 July, following a meeting with his Council of Ministers.

Sokouri Martin, a taxi driver, told IRIN, “Fuel prices are too high and consumers are on the brink of collapse…we decided not to work and to stop all other activities since this morning.”

While a city-wide march planned for today did not go ahead, protesters took to the streets in Kumasi, south-east Abidjan, clashing with the police. Police have been deployed at strategic points across the capital ready to disperse demonstrators.

AllAfrica