Maputo — Hundreds of motorcycle taxi drivers on Monday protested against fuel shortage in the northern Mozambican province of Nampula.

The protesters blockaded the city's key routes, including sections along the country's main north-south highway, National Road Number One (EN1).

The disruption severely affected the movement of people and cargo across the city during the morning rush hour.

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Demanding answers, the protesters marched to the official residence of Nampula Governor Eduardo Abdula, claiming that fuel shortage threatens their daily livelihoods.

Addressing the crowd directly, Eduardo Abdula called for calm and pledged an immediate investigation into the supply chain disruptions. "We understand your concerns and are actively working to resolve this situation", he said.

Government sources point out that fuel distribution is expected to normalize by Saturday. However, authorities have yet to release an official statement detailing the structural causes behind the supply chain breakdown.

Following the morning demonstration, the governor held a closed-door emergency meeting with motorcycle taxi drivers representatives on Monday afternoon. Details of the negotiations have not yet been made public.

The shortage has severely affected local transport dynamics. Motorcycle taxi drivers represent a critical pillar of urban and suburban mobility across northern Mozambique, where formal public transport infrastructure remains limited.

Protesters alleged unfair distribution practices at local filling stations, claiming that certain vendors are prioritizing specific buyers while leaving regular drivers in queues for hours.

The acute shortfall has also fueled a speculative informal market. But local operators said that they will monitor provincial response measures closely, warning that economic activity across Nampula will remain severely constrained until regular distribution resumes.

Recently, the government expressed its concern at the new wave of fuel shortage in several parts of the country, following the crisis that affected the country last April and May.

The previous fuel shortage caused long queues of vehicles at filling stations in Maputo and other cities. According to the authorities, the crisis was influenced by the US-Israel aggression war against Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which is responsible for the daily flow of almost 20 percent of the world's oil sales.

About 80 per cent of Mozambique's fuel imports pass through routes connected to the Strait of Hormuz, which means that the impact of the war in the Middle East is potentially disastrous for the country's economy.

This situation forced the government to increase, at the beginning of this May, the prices of the main liquid fuels by up to 45, 5 percent.

The authorities also pointed out the bankruptcy of fuel distributors and the shortage of foreign currency (particularly US dollars) as the main cause of the crisis.