Top 10 African countries with the lowest fuel costs at the end of the year

Africa’s fuel market evolved dramatically in 2025, owing to refinery expansions, price volatility, export milestones, and changing supply tactics in many important oil-producing countries on the continent.

• Nigeria’s Dangote Petroleum Refinery played a pivotal role in Africa’s fuel market developments in 2025.
• Africa’s fuel affordability varied widely, influenced by local refineries, government policies, and global price volatility.
• Countries such as Libya, Algeria, and Egypt not only boasted some of the lowest fuel prices in Africa, but also had the lowest prices in the world.
• Other countries, such as Nigeria, Sudan, and Tunisia, constantly ranked among the countries with the lowest pump prices in Africa.

Many of these developments were centered on Nigeria’s Dangote Petroleum Refinery, but the ripple effects extended well beyond its borders, affecting gasoline affordability and energy security across the continent.

Throughout the year, the continent’s refining capacity improved dramatically.

Aside from Nigeria’s 650,000-barrel-per-day Dangote complex, an international energy consortium has won a record $50 billion investment to build Africa’s second-largest refinery in Ondo State.

This trend boosted investor confidence in Africa’s downstream industry, especially as several governments wanted to minimize their reliance on imported petroleum.

Dangote’s pricing, crude sourcing, and export plan decisions impacted the area during 2025.

Between June and July 21st, the refinery shipped about one million tons of petrol, extending its reach beyond West Africa and highlighting Nigeria’s expanding importance as a supplier in the global PMS market.

Later in the year, Dangote notified authorities that it would deliver 1.5 billion litres of fuel in December 2025 and January 2026, with output expected to increase to 1.7 billion litres per month beginning in February 2026.

This level of output established the refinery as a stabilizing influence not just for Nigeria, but also for neighboring fuel-dependent countries.

Fuel prices across the continent remained volatile, reflecting disparities in policy, subsidies, and refining capacity.

Libya had the cheapest fuel in Africa throughout the year, while Algeria, Egypt, Angola, Nigeria, Sudan, and Tunisia were constantly among the countries with the lowest pump prices.

Others, like Liberia, Ethiopia, Gabon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Niger, moved in and out of the ranks based on world oil prices and domestic supply difficulties.

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These variances highlighted the disparities in the availability of inexpensive fuel across African markets, as well as the critical role that local refining plays in protecting consumers from global instability.

In Nigeria, Dangote’s temporary suspension of naira-denominated fuel sales owing to the depletion of crude-for-naira allocations has sparked worries about prospective price rises that might spread to neighboring nations.

Labour unrest and public pressure erupted, requiring government action to restore naira-based sales and allay worries of larger regional price shocks.

By October, Dangote had announced intentions to increase refinery capacity to 1.4 million barrels per day, bolstering Africa’s goal to become more self-sufficient.

Africa’s petroleum market is increasingly influenced by its own refineries, regulations, and investments, as the events of 2025 showed.

The continent is moving into a new stage where domestic capacity is crucial to maintaining price stability and long-term energy security as nations increase output and diversify their sources of supply.

With that said, here are the African countries with the lowest fuel prices in December 2025, as per data from GlobalPetrolPrices.

Compared to last month’s top 10 list, when the global average price of petrol was 1.29 U.S. dollars per liter, the same as the current month, fuel prices for Libya, Algeria, Tunisia, Nigeria, and Liberia all increased slightly.

While fuel prices for Egypt, Nigeria, and Ethiopia declined. Fuel prices for Angola and Sudan remained the same.