Côte d'Ivoire: City on go-slow as residents protest sudden fuel price rise

Thousands of business-owners closed down their shops across the capital and several of the city’s main roads have been blocked in protest of a government decision to stop fuel subsidies, which caused prices to rise steeply overnight. The government, which has been subsidising fuel prices for the past three years, removed these subsidies on 6 July because it could no longer afford to keep them in place. As a result the price of a litre of fuel rose by 29 percent in 24 hours, and the price of diesel by 44 percent.