Rwanda Utility Regulatory Authority (RURA) has announced new pump prices for petrol and diesel for the first time in 2020, effective Thursday, September 3rd 2020.

This is the first time there will be a hike in the prices this year, notably, since the outbreak of the coronavirus. The Authority made the new tariff known in a released statement on Wednesday evening.

The reasons behind the increase were not disclosed to the public but it is largely attributed to local fluctuations and the unstable price of the global oil market.

The new oil prices are:

A litre of petrol that was formerly Rwf908 is now Rwf966.

Diesel that was formerly Rwf883 is now Rwf943.

Rwanda is not the only country to have announced a hike in price this week as Nigeria also announced an increase in the price of fuel.

The Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC), a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), announced an increase in the price of Petroleum Motor Spirit (PMS) to around 160 – 162 naira, with some retail stations selling for as high as 165 naira.

According to the independent marketers, this is because of the increase in the price of removing fuel from depot from 138 naira to 151 naira.

This is the third price change since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria. In June, the price was reduced to 121.50 naira per litre. In August, the retail price was adjusted to 138.62 naira per litre by the PPMC and petrol was sold between 145 – 150 per litre.

The PPMC now have the power to set the retail price for fuel after the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Authority (PPPRA) announced it will only be guiding the NNPC on oil prices considering the current reality of the global oil market.

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There is optimism there may be a downward review on the new pump price in Nigeria.