Angolan Police Crack Down On Fuel Hike Protests

A wave of demonstrations across Angola has been triggered by a government decision to cut subsidies for petrol amid plunging oil prices.

The move to cut the subsidies was aimed at curbing government spending — but resulted in sharp fuel price hikes.

Thousands of young people — including many motorcycle taxi drivers — demonstrated on Saturday against the increase in fuel prices in the Angolan capital, Luanda, and other cities in the Southern African country.

In Luanda, a heavy police presence patrolled the streets from Saturday morning, before firing tear gas to disperse a crowd that had gathered in the east of the capital. Several people were injured and the police made multiple arrests.

“In Luanda, we arrested 32 demonstrators, and in Benguela, 55. The demonstrators were violent and attempted to set up roadblocks with burning fuel canisters and rubber tires,” police spokesman Mateus Rodrigues told a press conference.

Activist Dito Dali, one of the organizers of the Luanda protest, contradicted the police account.

“We were peaceful. The police used violence without any reason. We have hundreds of photos and videos of the injured, some of which we have also posted on social media. It is only thanks to our composure that there were no deaths — as happened recently in Huambo,” Dali told DW, referring to a protest in the central city during which police open fire on a demonstrationthat authorities said had turned violent. Five people died in the Huambo protest.

Angola’s opposition party has decried authorities’ heavy-handed response to protests, saying 11 people have so far been killed.

Fuel price hike was the last straw

The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had long been calling for Angola to reduce fuel subsidies, and their removal resulted in the gasoline price increasing from 165 kwanza (Ꞓ0.25) to 300 kwanza (Ꞓ0.48) per liter on May 3, 2023.

Angola is one of Africa’s largest oil producers, however it does not have sufficient refineries to meet its domestic demand for diesel and gasoline and therefore has to import a large portion of fuel at high costs.