Following the announcement that fuel subsidies would be phased out in neighboring Nigeria, petrol prices in Benin nearly doubled.
Nigeria is one of Africa’s oil behemoths, and subsidized petroleum products are routinely smuggled into Benin, where they’re mostly sold on the side of the road and serve a large portion of the population.
It is cheaper than filling up at stations, according to local media. It is popularly known as kpayo, which means “unoriginal” in Goun, a native language.
In his inauguration speech, Nigeria’s new President Bola Tinubu declared that fuel subsidies were “gone,” prompting panic buying and a spike in fuel prices.
It was later revealed that it would be phased out over the next few weeks.
