The Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority’s (ZERA) decision to extend the duration of fuel licences by one month has reportedly sparked anxiety among fuel dealers, fearful that license fees will be hiked exponentially.
Fuel dealers’ licences, whose lifespan is one year, expired on December 31, 2019, but was extended for the second time at the end of January. ZERA acting chief executive Eddington Mazambani explained the reasons behind the move:
We are still to finalise the 2020 licensing framework consultations with relevant stakeholders.
According to NewsDay, Zimbabwe has six major oil-importing companies which include Ipaz, Zuva Petroleum, Puma Energy, Total Zimbabwe, PetroTrade (Pvt) Ltd and Engen Petroleum Zimbabwe.
However, due to the ongoing fuel crisis which started in October 2018, unregistered fuel dealers have mushroomed, taking advantage of the shortages to sell the product in foreign currency.