International fuel trader Vitol will be the sole supplier of fuel to Namibia for the month of October.
This was confirmed by the energy ministry on Thursday.
“The extension is intended as a once-off final arrangement and will not be renewed beyond October 2026,” ministry executive director Moses Pakote told The Namibian on Thursday.
Earlier this year, the ministry gave Vitol the sole right to supply fuel to the country for the months of July, August and September.
“The government’s interim arrangement with the supplier was intended to secure 100% of Namibia’s fuel requirements for the period July to September 2026 at basic fuel price flat, at a time of significant volatility in the international oil market,” Pakote said.
The decision to award Vitol the sole right to supply fuel to the country raised concerns in June due to the transparency of the procurement process.
The Independent Patriots for Change shadow minister of international trade said on Thursday the extension to October raises additional concerns.
“The arrangement was concluded without an open tender, under the emergency of the Iran conflict, with one foreign trader supplying the whole country’s petrol and diesel,” Rodney Cloete said.
“An emergency that is extended by press statement, with no instrument anyone can read, has stopped being an emergency and become a procurement method,” he said.
Cloete said prices of fuel have risen for September and decisions regarding fuel should be made clear to Namibians.
“The minister should table the extension instrument and its price basis in the National Assembly, publish the invitation for supply from 1 November within seven days, and gazette the coordination regulations before this arrangement lapses,” he said.
The Namibian understands that the energy ministry will issue a request for proposals for bulk fuel supply to the country for the months of November to January.
