06-13-2017 ■ Many Burundians say they have got missed calls by the following foreign numbers: +22478000546, +22478000542, +22478000556 and +5321647912 from 9 June. They say they lost all their airtime credits when they tried to call back the numbers. The ministry of telecommunication reassures the victims and says the issue is (...)

06-06-2017 ■ Prices of imported food products that have been exempted from customs duties have hardly decreased. Consumers think importers are taking advantage of the tax-exemption. The Burundian Association of Consumers (ABUCO) is worried that the government measure to exonerate certain imported food products may be profiting importers who may have (...)

06-01-2017 ■ World Bank and African Development Bank have identified 19 states including Burundi that fall into the fragile states criteria. A fragile state is a low-income country characterized by week state capacity or legitimacy leaving citizens vulnerable to a range of shocks. The World Bank deems a country to be (...)

05-30-2017 ■ From last week, the public sighed with relief that there were signs the fuel shortage that had rocked the nation over several weeks was to end soon. But the problem reoccurs bringing with it its nightmarish events. On Tuesday morning, many of service stations were dry, and vehicles built (...)

05-16-2017 ■ Minister of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) says, despite the country having enough basic infrastructure, Burundi falls back in the use of ICTs. “We have found that Burundi has a fairly well-developed ICT infrastructure. But the observation we make, bitterly noteworthy, is that we are still deficient in terms of (...)

05-16-2017 ■ On May 12, the Minister of Finance issued a Ministerial Ordinance exempting six food products from tax. Consumers and traders say these products are not enough given the economic situation in Burundi. “Cassava and cassava flour, maize and maize flour, rice and dried beans are the products exempt from (...)

05-09-2017 ■ Scuffles, frustrations, quarrels…. are noticed at the north bus stop in Bujumbura city center. Long queues of passengers are built up at different bus stops. Pupils, civil servants, everyone rushes to go back home. But a shortage of buses is observed; they come in small numbers due to the (...)

05-04-2017 ■ The Minister of Energy and Mining announced yesterday that petroleum products will now be distributed only at fuel stations and in daytime from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. The decision is taken after a serious lack of fuel that has been observed in the country since the last few (...)

04-27-2017 ■ Long queues of cars, motorcycles and people who have cans, wait for hours at the few stations that are open. City oil and Kingstar stations from the southern to northern neighborhoods in the capital Bujumbura are providing fuel. “I have spent four days looking for fuel but in vain”, (...)

04-20-2017 ■ The Ministry of Energy and Mining says the shortage of fuel earlier his week was due to a “technical breakdown” that interrupted clearance processes within the Burundi Revenue Authority (OBR), an allegation the Authority denies. From last Monday till yesterday, many of the fuel pumps around Bujumbura town were (...)