Maputo, March 24, 2025 (Lusa) - Fuel retailers in Mozambique called for police protection on Monday following the vandalisation of at least 30 petrol stations during post-election protests, with losses of 195.7 million meticais (€2.8 million) and 400 job losses.
"We wanted there to be constant patrols at the petrol stations, because they are more vulnerable, they don't have a fence that would allow protesters to get in easily. If we could have surveillance, security and patrols, especially at night," asked the president of the Association of Fuel Retailers of Mozambique (Arcomoc), Nelson Mavimbe.
In an interview with Lusa, he said that the appeal had been submitted to the government through the Ministry of the Interior, to ensure that petrol stations, which have been destroyed since the start of the post-election demonstrations last October, should be protected.
Nelson Mavimbe said that the greatest damage reported by the 200 or so members, out of a total of almost 900 retailers in the country, occurred in the city of Matola, in Maputo province, in the south of the country, followed by the Mozambican capital.
This led to the loss of around 400 jobs after vandalisation and destruction affected dozens of petrol stations, some of which remained closed.
"Those that have continued to operate, even if it's at half capacity, have also had to reduce the number of workers because the petrol stations aren't working to their full capacity," said Mavimbe.
He added that grocery shops and shops operating in the same space have been vandalised at the petrol stations, with computer equipment stolen in particular.
The figures presented to Lusa indicate that the vandalisation of petrol stations affected at least 30 businesspeople associated with the organisation.
"So far, we have a figure of around 195,760,859 meticais [€2.8 million] in losses (...), but there will likely be some change because there is work that is still being done," said Nelson Mavimbe, anticipating that "the impacts were greater, negative and huge".
Fuel retailers are experiencing other difficulties as a result of the vandalisation, such as "non-compliance with tax obligations", including paying off bank instalments. They also refer to the social impacts of the lack of fuel pumps in the communities.
"We're waiting for the situation to normalise so that we can make some recovery or repair the damage caused," said Mavimbe, acknowledging that the businessmen are afraid to make investments to get the pumps working again, given the uncertainty about the occurrence of new riots.
Businesspeople in the sector call for dialogue to restore stability in the country, for lines of financing and for the country to be opened up to new investors in a climate of security.
"It's important to find a consensus because no investor is going to bet [on investing in the country]" without stability, concluded Mavimbe.
Since October, Mozambique has been experiencing severe social unrest, with demonstrations and stoppages called by former presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane, who rejected the election results of 9 October, which gave victory to Daniel Chapo.
The protests, now on a smaller scale, have been taking place in different parts of the country. In addition to contesting the results, people are complaining about the rising cost of living and other social problems.
Since October, at least 361 people have been killed, including around two dozen minors, and around 3,500 injured during the protests, according to the electoral platform Decide, a non-governmental organisation that monitors electoral processes.
Mozambique's government has confirmed at least 80 deaths, as well as the destruction of 1,677 commercial establishments, 177 schools and 23 health centres during the demonstrations.
PME/ADB // ADB.
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