Oil above $100 a barrel is now reaching households across southern Africa as governments run out of room to cushion it. Brent crude traded at about $108 on 12 October, and Namibia’s September inflation, published on 8 October, rose to 5.4%, a two-year high, with pump prices up 30.4% on a year earlier. Botswana resumed collecting fuel and road levies on 8 October after a six-month tax holiday, Eswatini’s Senate approved a 25% rise in short-distance bus and taxi fares on 12 October, and Malawi entered a second week of fuel shortages. Higher transport costs will push up food and wage pressures, while countries short of foreign currency, such as Malawi, face rationing rather than just higher prices.
Sources
- Fortune: https://fortune.com/article/price-of-oil-10-12-2026/
- Rio Times: https://www.riotimesonline.com/namibia-inflation-september-2026/
- Trading Economics: https://tradingeconomics.com/namibia/inflation-cpi/news/590579
- Sunday Standard: https://www.sundaystandard.info/fuel-levies-return/
- Times of Eswatini: https://times.co.sz/46207/news/senators-warn-of-endless-hikes-demand-govt-action/
- Africanews: https://www.africanews.com/2026/10/12/fuel-shortage-persists-in-malawi-and-disrupts-daily-life/
- Malawi24: https://malawi24.com/2026/10/12/cama-warns-on-fuel-exploitation/