Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe’s fuel consumption fell significantly over the past year due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the country’s energy regulator said Friday.
According to the Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (ZERA), petrol consumption in the country declined by 12.53 per cent in the first three months of this year, compared to the same period last year.
In the first three months of this year, the country consumed 163 million litres of petrol, down from 212.9 million litres of petrol consumed during the same period last year.
In terms of diesel, consumption declined by 23.4 per cent from 119.7 million litres consumed in the three months up to March last year, to 104.7 million litres during the comparative period this year.
ZERA board chairperson David Madzikanda attributed the decline to lockdown measures implemented by the government in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In late March 2020, the government banned intra-city, inter-city and cross-border movement of people, among a cocktail of measures put in place to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
Most businesses were also closed except for those in the essential services sector.
The restrictions were partially lifted in the final quarter of the year but in January and February this year, another total lockdown was imposed as the government battled to contain a second wave of the pandemic.
