Market sovereignty: Why West Africa must break free from foreign fuel price benchmarks

For decades, West Africa’s petroleum market has operated around an uncomfortable contradiction.
The region has some of Africa’s largest hydrocarbon resources, millions of barrels of refining potential and a vast, constantly growing market for petrol, diesel and other petroleum products. Yet, when it comes to determining the value of the fuel it consumes, much of the region has remained a price taker.
That contradiction came into focus in Abuja last week as regulators, refiners, traders, financiers, policymakers and market experts gathered for the second West African Refined Fuel Market Conference.
Participants argued that West Africa has reached a point where producing more fuel is ...