Empty Tanks, Longer Days for a City on the Move

Mar 21 , 2026. By BEZAWIT HULUAGER ( FORTUNE STAFF WRITER ) , DAGIM SEIFE ( FORTUNE STAFF WRITER )

Long queues at fuel stations are eroding drivers’ incomes, pushing up commuter costs, and exposing structural weaknesses in the fuel distribution system, even as authorities look to storage expansion and electric mobility for relief, report BEZAWIT HULUAGER AND DAGIM SEIFE, FORTUNE STAFF WRITERS

Every month, when fuel supplies tighten, Sisay Abera pulls his white taxi into a queue that barely moves and waits for the day to drain away. His cab is the only way he feeds his family of five, yet more of his working hours are now spent searching for petrol than carrying passengers.

Last week, near the Addis Abeba Stadium, on Gabon St., Sisay sat with other drivers, scrolling through photos of their children and swapping stories of frustration, fatigue and hope. A father of three who has spent 13 years behind the wheel, he now finds that his work is impacted less by the road than by the queue.

More than six hours can disappear while he waits for fuel, time that would otherwise go to the busiest hours of the day.

“I’m more concerned about the lost time than the rising price of gas,” he told Fortune.

By the time he gets a full tank, the morning rush is often gone. Taxi drivers like him could make 5,000 Br to 6,000 Br a day. Now his daily income has fallen by half.

Requiring 20Ltr to 25Ltr a day, Sisay wants gas stations to be compelled to prioritise public transport vehicles.

Many veterans of the sector warn that the city’s transport operation is being pushed to the breaking point. Hours lost in fuel queues are causing distress and “needless pressure” on drivers and passengers alike. Among taxi operators, frustration has hardened into organised complaint. Leaders representing the interests of drivers like Sisay complain that a directive from the Petroleum & Energy Authority requiring public transport vehicles to receive priority at gas stations has not been enforced.

Nuredin Ditamo has been serving as the head of Nib Taxi Owners S.C., one of the 13 minibus taxi associations registered in the city. He is not pleased to see that recent tariff adjustments do not keep pace with rising fuel costs. Over the past year, domestic fuel prices have risen by 42 to 50 Br a litre, yet transport tariffs were only adjusted a few weeks ago. The new rates are 10 Br for 2.5Km, 20 Br for five kilometres, 30 Br for 7.5Km and 70 Br for 18Km.

While taxi profit margins  were adjusted by only five to eight percent, the fees paid to terminal operators (marshals) increased by 150pc, from 10 Br, a trip. Nuredin called the decision unfair, warning it will pile pressure on drivers whose margins are already diminished. His Association has submitted what he argued is "a more balanced and fair response”.

However, the crisis is no longer confined to fuel depots; it is affecting drivers like Sisay.

For Yetnayet Chanyalew, the pressure begins before she reaches work. She travels from Saris to Agona Cinema, near Gottera junction, to work at a construction materials shop. She spends 120 Br a day on transport. A year ago, she spent only 50 Br a day, with a monthly transport budget of 1,500 Br. Fares on public transport have risen by at least 25pc, and she has started walking part of the route to cut costs. She used to rely on Bajaj for the harder parts of the journey, but that option is also disappearing.

As the breadwinner in her family, every extra Birr spent on transport means less for something else.

“It’s going to take away from my child,” she said. “It’s going to affect my expenses for groceries, too.”

Her employer would not allow her to leave early to pick up her child from school, and transport delays now make her late. Her daughter, who is in kindergarten, no longer uses the school transport service that costs 2,500 Br a month. The change has reduced the child’s fatigue, but it has left Yetnayet juggling time, money and childcare with no clear relief in sight.

The same shortage is also slowing the road between Djibouti and Ethiopia. Hurgecho Bejiga has spent the past two years hauling gasoline and diesel from Djibouti, but now the shortage is crippling freight itself. He often waits two or three days to secure fuel for his truck, delaying deliveries and shrinking his income. Where he once completed four round-trip a month, he now manages only two.

Hurgecho blamed not only scarcity, but also misuse within the distribution chain for the problem. According to him, a driver might deliver 45,000Ltr in a single trip, but stations may release only 15,000Ltr for public sale, "hiding the rest for the black market.” He accused some station operators of pretending to be out of fuel to extort extra, while others, he blames, tamper with pumps, making customers pay for less than they get.

Fuel dealers reject accusations such as this and the blame that nothing is being done.

According to Ephrem Tesfaye, president of the Fuel Dealers Association, the current shortage is unprecedented, and he fears it may worsen if global tensions, including the war between Israel and the United States against Iran, remain a major disruptor.

The Strait of Hormuz, through which 20pc of global gas and fuel passes, was closed in the early days of the conflict. Major fuel refineries in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), key sources for Ethiopia, have been under attack by drones and missiles that Iran fires, undermining their operations.

Ahmed Shedie, minister of Finance, disclosed that the federal government is exploring logistical alternatives to reduce disruption linked to the Strait of Hormuz.

"Emergency purchases and strategic depot management are underway," he said last week.

The federal government allocates more than two billion dollars in foreign currency each year to secure fuel, and the recent exchange-rate reforms have not eliminated the large subsidies that shield consumers from global price shocks. In the early days of the conflict, crude oil prices on the global market surged from less than 60 dollars a barrel to 115 dollars, then dropped below 100 dollars late last week.

The authorities adjusted retail petrol prices last week, which federal officials depicted as “extremely modest” relative to procurement costs.

"If the government passed those costs on in full, benzene would cost more than 205 Br a litre and diesel more than 238 Br," said the Finance Minister.

A litre of benzene sells for 132.18 Br and diesel for 139.84 Br. The Minister claimed that his government is still absorbing around 73.56 Br a litre of benzene and more than 98 Br of diesel. He also joined voices from the sector blaming "diversions in the illegal market chains" for undermining the subsidies. He joined the Prime Minister and Mayor Adanech Abiebie in calling for national fuel conservation.

Transport & Logistics Minister Alemu Sime (PhD) has also appealed for restraint amid disruptions caused by the Middle East conflict. He called for “Ethiopian resilience” and urged people to shift from private cars to public transport, share rides, cut non-essential trips and walk where possible. In the longer term, he argued, the country has to end its “addiction” to imported fuel.

Ethiopia consumed 3.93 million tonnes of fuel in the 2023-24 fiscal year. In the capital’s 132 fuel stations, shortages have spread across both benzene and diesel. Mid-last week, 37 stations were completely out of benzene or were waiting for overdue shipments, while 76 stations, more than half the city’s total, had no diesel at all. Records show that 3.7 million litres of benzene were available across 97 stations, while only 2.3 million litres of diesel remained in 56 locations, leaving the city’s transport system close to paralysis.

To change that, the government is promoting electric vehicles and the shift to natural gas.

“Electricity is a renewable and cheaper energy source,” said Alemu.

Experts, such as Mere’ed B. Fikereyohannes, investment adviser at Pragma Investment Advisory, agree.

"Faster electrification may be the strongest option," he told Fortune.

Authorities estimate that about 10pc of the 1.5 million cars on the roads across the country are electric-powered, including more than 100 buses now operating in Addis Abeba.

The shortage has pushed Ethiopia's authorities to look beyond the immediate crisis. Executives of the Ethiopian Investment Holdings (EIH) have formally requested a 10hct of plot within the Djibouti Damerjog Industrial Park to build a fuel storage hub, with a first-phase capacity of 150,000cbm. A delegation from the company also visited Djibouti last week and met Aboubaker Omar Hadi, chairman of the Djibouti Ports & Free Zones Authority, where the oil jetty has an annual capacity of 25 million tonnes. The move comes as Horizon Terminals, with a capacity of five million tonnes, has reached its limit.

But, for many residents, the crisis is measured not in policy terms but in ordinary choices shrinking. Sisay’s wait at the pump amounts to fewer passengers carried and less money taken home. Yetnayet’s longer journey is more walking, more stress and less room in the household budget. Hurgecho’s stalled truck has fewer trips completed and less income from work that depends on movement. In each case, the shortage is no longer a background economic problem. It has entered daily schedules, family routines and decisions about how to spend, travel and work.

The authorities are also dealing with what they describe as "organised sabotage", although Destaw Mekuanent (PhD), the Authority’s head, declined to comment, citing “crisis-time communications”.

Mere'ed estimated that 15pc to 20pc of fuel is being diverted to the underground market.

In March 2026, the Federal High Court gave police 12 more days to investigate an alleged corruption network involving 14 senior officials and experts accused of undermining the national fuel supply. Federal investigators claim the scheme began in July 2025, when the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ethiopian Petroleum Supply Enterprise, Esmelealem Mihretu, allegedly allowed the diversion of 68 fuel tankers to the contraband market.

They also claim that it expanded between January and February 2026, when suspects, including Dibara Fufa, deputy director of the Petroleum & Energy Authority, provided “legal cover” for the apprehension of trucks carrying contraband. Investigators claim the "fuel stocks were hidden to create artificial shortages and wait for price rises."

However, as reasons for the ongoing shortages are all but one, experts warn that the crisis in the Middle East could continue, eventually forcing the authorities to consider fuel rationing, as seen elsewhere.

“De-escalation should not be expected soon,” said Mere’ed.

He urged the authorities to open diplomatic discussions with other countries, including Russia, to secure a new supply.

Mere’ed said airlines and transport vehicles remain the biggest fuel users, with vehicles alone numbering about 1.5 million. He also said fuel subsidies remain a delicate issue. Raising prices more sharply would shock the economy, he argued, but subsidies should not come from monetary policy. Instead, he said, the state would have to reduce spending in non-essential areas to keep paying for them.

PUBLISHED ON Mar 21,2026 [ VOL 26 , NO 1351]