The Fuel of Betrayal: How Zambia Pays the Price While Angola Pumps Prosperity

In a world where a mere kilometer can separate abundance from austerity, Zambia stands as a cautionary tale  a nation paying triple for fuel while its oil-rich neighbor Angola practically gives it away. The numbers are damning. The irony is heartbreaking. And the silence? Deafening.

In Angola, a liter of petrol goes for just $0.327. In Zambia, the same liter costs $1.163 an unforgiving difference of $0.836 per liter. It’s a pricing gap that transcends economics. It screams geopolitical miscalculation. It exposes a failure of vision. And it leaves Zambian households, transporters, and small businesses crushed under the weight of a commodity that should be affordable in a region so rich in resources.

Angola isn’t just lucky — it’s strategic. Ranked as Africa’s fourth-largest oil producer and 18th globally, Angola pumps out about 1.2 million barrels of crude oil every day, yet consumes only 150,000 barrels domestically. The rest  over 1 million barrels daily  is exported, earning the country a staggering $31.4 billion in 2024 alone. China, Spain, India, France, and the Netherlands are top destinations for Angolan crude. But not Zambia. Never Zambia.

Instead, Lusaka turns 7,000 kilometers eastward to import refined petroleum from the Middle East, burning through nearly $1.8 billion annually for approximately 2 million metric tons of petroleum products. The irony? Zambia and Angola share 1,110 kilometers of border, are both members of SADC, and sit just 2,300 kilometers apart by road. Yet one pumps prosperity while the other imports poverty.

This is not a story about oil alone. It is a story of the betrayal of potential. A story of how Africa’s borders, drawn in Berlin and maintained in boardrooms, continue to suffocate cooperation. Why has Zambia failed to ink a bilateral fuel deal with Angola, especially when doing so could cut pump prices by nearly $0.60 per liter  even at Angola’s retail price?

The answer lies in decades of dependence. In systems designed to keep Africa externally reliant. In politics that reward inefficiency and diplomacy that lacks boldness. And in leaders more willing to fly to Dubai than to drive to Luanda.

The consequences are not abstract. For Zambians, high fuel prices mean higher transport costs, more expensive food, shrinking disposable income, and stalled development. A boda rider in Lusaka pays more per liter than an Uber driver in Madrid. This isn’t just unfair  it’s enraging. And yet, it doesn’t have to be this way.

Imagine an Africa where borders mean opportunity, not isolation. Where Angola supplies oil not just to the West, but to its neighbors  under African terms. Where Zambia, DRC, and Malawi enter joint refining and distribution agreements. Where infrastructure is built to connect, not to divide. Where policy is driven by Pan-African logic, not colonial hangovers.

Africa has been cheated by others   yes. But it is also cheating itself. And that must stop.

The Zambian government has a duty to act not tomorrow, but now. Negotiations with Angola should not be diplomatic dreams but operational realities. Establish a corridor. Sign a deal. Build a refinery. Bring fuel home.

Because until Africa learns to do business with itself, it will continue buying back its blessings  at a premium.

This is a call to rethink. To revolt  gently, wisely, and purposefully — against the systems that no longer serve us. It’s time we stopped being grateful for crumbs while we sit on gold.

Let Zambia be the last country where a liter of fuel costs a mother her meal, a child their school fees, and a nation its dignity when help is just across the border.