Anjouan: fuel shortage revives tensions from May
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Masiwa
For about a week, supply difficulties for petroleum products have been reported on Anjouan, in the Comoros. These difficulties revive memories of the May protests against rising fuel prices, marked by the clashes at Pagé and the deaths of two people, according to Masiwa.
A new shortage of petroleum products has affected the island of Anjouan, in the Comoros, for about a week, reviving concerns five months after the May 2026 protests against rising fuel prices, according to the media outlet Masiwa. Supply difficulties are being reported on the island, where residents remember a period of intense social tension.
On 9 May 2026, the Comorian government announced a sharp rise in petroleum product prices, against a backdrop of tensions on international markets. Transport operators initially reacted, before a broader mobilisation of the population paralysed several sectors, notably during the clashes at Pagé, where two people died. Some bereaved families, such as that of Attoumani Saïd, killed during the protests, are still living with that memory.
Assiand Mahamoud, a motorcycle driver in Anjouan, says he has had great difficulty finding petrol to work. He wonders whether the state still orders a sufficient quantity of fuel: "I was wondering whether the state still orders a sufficient quantity of fuel." For moto-taxi drivers, the scarcity of petrol quickly translates into lost income.
