00:04At Chilhuda restaurant in Kigali, plates of fish and pilau remain popular with customers
00:10during lunch hour.
00:12But behind the scenes, raising fuel prices are squeezing the business.
00:17Much of the fish comes from Rwanda's western border town of Lubavu, on Lake Kivu.
00:22The rice is largely imported from Pakistan, Tanzania and other parts of Asia.
00:27But for a landlocked country that depends heavily on goods arriving through Tanzania, Uganda
00:33and Kenya, transport costs are quickly affecting the final price on the plate.
00:40Everything we use depends on transport, fish, rice, vegetables and even cooking supplies.
00:46When fuel goes up, suppliers increase prices.
00:49We try to protect customers, but it is becoming harder.
00:54Fuel prices in Rwanda have risen twice since the war began.
00:58In the latest review, premium petrol increased while diesel was kept stable in a move aimed
01:05to protecting cargo transport and food supply chains.
01:09The government says it is monitoring stocks closely and using market measures to avoid shortages.
01:15We have looked at the stocks that we have.
01:21We have looked at the stocks that are on the way coming.
01:27And we feel like we should not rush into kind of stringent measures such as rationing or even things like
01:44reducing the number of days that people go to work per week.
01:52So we have decided to use the market forces to kind of implement the rationing.
02:01That includes looking at the frequency with which we review the fuel prices.
02:09The government says it will rely on market adjustments, support fuel imports and encourage people to use public transport as
02:18global uncertainty continues.
02:20We are talking to our partners in the region.
02:23We are talking to our oil marketing companies.
02:29We are providing some financial support, including providing letters of credit so that they can be allowed to import more
02:42products.
02:42But we are also encouraging our citizens to kind of think of starting to change our behaviors in terms of
02:55the way we are used to use personal cars.
03:00We want to put emphasis on public transport.
03:06For transport workers, the pressure is immediate. Some motorcycle taxi drivers say profits are shrinking while passengers struggle with higher
03:15fares.
03:16Others are now switching to electric bikes, which are cheaper to run.
03:23The conflict in Iran has had a big impact on us. Before, a trip that cost a thousand francs a
03:29few months ago is now double that price because fuel prices have gone up.
03:34Passengers complain, yet we also have to survive. This is a difficult period for fuel bikes, but an opportunity for
03:41electric motorcycles.
03:43With global uncertainty still high, many here hope prices will soon be going back down.
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