Burundi: an application for fuel without fuel

The Burundian population is forced to buy fuel online. The application has been set up by the Petroleum Company of Burundi (SOPEBU) since the end of last September. But, paradoxically, this fuel is still not available on the Burundian market.

INFO SOS Médias Burundi

Finding solutions to this problem that has lasted almost 47 months seems impossible. As if that were not enough, the population is informed that from now on management will be done via an application downloadable from a website. And any owner of an engine that uses fuel must use the application to be served.

The press release signed by the Director General of SOPEBU called on the population of the commercial city of Bujumbura, where the United Nations agencies and the central administration are concentrated, to register from September 30 to October 6, 2024. Afterwards, a one-week extension was given. At first, three elements were required for registration: the pink card, the technical inspection and the presence of the car. But then, people were asked to register themselves.

“I downloaded it. But we are still waiting for confirmation. I spent two days waiting to be assisted by SOPEBU agents but it did not work,” says a city dweller who says he is tired of wasting time filling out paperwork without results. Another resident of the economic capital emphasizes that he did not have any facilities to register and preferred to do without it.

“After all, I am sure that the application will not work and I am not the only one. How do you register to have a product that is still not available on the market? We have left it aside for the moment,” he says.

Many people are currently without complete information on the use of this application “IGITORO Pass V 1.0”, downloadable from www.sopebu.com

The lack of fuel is ongoing and the application does not provide a solution because it is not yet effective. Public transporters are the first to be against this measure that seems to demand a lot from them. For most of them without Android phones, this decision should concern the owners of the vehicles and not just the drivers.

The entire population is waiting for the continuation of this new regulation in the management of fuel which remains unobtainable in the small nation of East Africa.

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Long lines of vehicles at a fuel-free station in the commercial city Bujumbura, October 17, 2024 (SOS Médias Burundi)