The Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (ZERA) recently released its petroleum price schedule for 17 April 2026, and the figures demand a level of scrutiny that goes far beyond a cursory glance at the pump. 

While the official narrative suggests that Petrol Blend (E20) at $2.08 is a measure designed to “cushion” the public, the cold, hard mathematics of the price build-up reveal a staggering deception. 

When we strip away the mandatory blending requirements and look at the raw costs, the truth is laid bare: pure unleaded petrol is significantly cheaper than the blend we are forced to buy. 

By the government’s own data, if the blending mandate were dropped tomorrow, pure unleaded petrol would retail for approximately $1.92 per litre—a full 16 cents cheaper than the current E20 blend.

To prove this point, we must look at the “Fuel Cost” component in the ZERA schedule. 

For E20, the cost of the fuel itself—comprising 80 percent imported petrol and 20 percent local ethanol—is listed at $1.0927 per litre. 

This is an engineered price that hides an economic paradox. 

The Free On Board (FOB) price for refined petrol at the port of Beira is roughly $1.09 per litre. 

However, the domestic ethanol used to “dilute” this petrol is mandated at $1.10 per litre. 

In any rational economy, a dilutant should be cheaper than the primary product. 

In Zimbabwe, the additive is more expensive than the fuel. 

If the country simply imported pure unleaded petrol (E0) and removed the ethanol component entirely, the base fuel cost would drop to $1.0900. 

When you apply the standard tax stack, levies, and distribution margins to this lower base, the pump price for pure petrol naturally settles at $1.92. 

The government is effectively charging motorists a 16-cent premium per litre just to include a product that isn’t needed and costs more to produce.

The deception deepens when we move from the price at the pump to the cost of the journey. 

Thermodynamics and chemistry do not bend to regulatory notices. 

It is a scientific reality that ethanol contains approximately 34 percent less energy by volume than pure petrol. 

At a 20 percent blending level, the overall energy density of the fuel is reduced by roughly 8 percent. 

This is the “efficiency penalty” that every Zimbabwean motorist pays in silence. 

To travel the exact same distance that one litre of pure unleaded petrol would cover, a car must burn approximately 1.075 litres of E20. 

This means the $2.08 price tag is an optical illusion. 

When you account for the extra fuel required to make up for the lack of energy, the “true work cost” of E20—the cost to actually move your car—is effectively $2.24 per litre.

The comparison is devastating. 

On one hand, we have pure unleaded petrol, which would cost $1.92 at the pump and provide maximum mileage. 

On the other hand, we have the mandated E20 blend, which costs $2.08 at the pump but effectively costs $2.24 when adjusted for its poor performance. 

The Zimbabwean public is being fleeced of 32 cents for every “effective litre” used. 

This is a massive wealth transfer from the pockets of commuters, farmers, and business owners into the hands of a protected domestic ethanol monopoly. 

The argument that blending saves foreign currency is exposed as a fallacy when the domestic product is priced higher than the imported one and requires a higher volume of consumption to perform the same task.

Why is the choice of unblended petrol denied to the public? 

If the authorities were confident in the benefits of E20, they would allow it to compete on equal footing with unleaded petrol at the service station. 

They do not because they know that no rational consumer would choose a fuel that is 16 cents more expensive at the pump and 32 cents more expensive in practice. 

The mandate is not a policy of national interest; it is a policy of captive markets. 

By making pure petrol illegal for general sale, the state ensures that a private entity has a guaranteed revenue stream, regardless of how inefficient or overpriced their product becomes. 

This is a circular tax that siphons money from the public, increases the cost of logistics, and drives up the price of every basic commodity in the country.

Furthermore, the price build-up reveals an over-taxed energy sector where nearly 85 cents of every dollar goes to the state and its various agencies. 

When these heavy taxes are layered onto an artificially inflated base price, the result is a cost-of-living crisis that is entirely avoidable. 

Fuel is the lifeblood of production. 

By forcing a more expensive and less efficient blend on the public, the government is deliberately sabotaging the nation’s economic competitiveness. 

Every time a delivery truck covers a route or a worker commutes to a factory, they are paying an “ethanol tax” that adds no value to the economy but adds significant weight to the national poverty levels.

We must also consider the hidden long-term costs. 

Most vehicles on Zimbabwean roads were not designed to run on high-ethanol blends. 

The corrosive nature of ethanol accelerates the wear and tear on fuel pumps, injectors, and rubber seals. 

While the motorist pays more for less distance today, they are also being set up for expensive mechanical failures tomorrow. 

Pure unleaded petrol is not only cheaper to buy and more efficient to use; it is fundamentally safer for the longevity of the national fleet. 

The “cheaper” blend advertised by ZERA is, in reality, a long-term financial trap that punishes the owner of every older vehicle in the country.

It is time to demand transparency and the restoration of consumer choice. 

The Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority must stop masquerading as a protector of the people while presiding over a pricing structure that defies the most basic laws of economics and physics. 

If the local ethanol industry cannot produce a product that is cheaper than imported petrol, it has no business being mandated. 

The logic of “import substitution” only works if the substitute is more affordable. 

When the substitute is more expensive and less efficient, it is not an asset—it is a liability.

The math is simple, the evidence is in the build-up, and the conclusion is unavoidable. 

Pure unleaded petrol at $1.92 per litre is the economic reality we are being denied. 

Instead, we are saddled with a $2.08 blend that performs like a $2.24 burden. 

The E20 blending mandate is an economic weight that should be lifted immediately. 

We deserve the right to buy the cheaper, more efficient, and cleaner fuel that the global market provides. 

Anything less is a betrayal of the public trust and a deliberate act of economic sabotage against the citizens of Zimbabwe. 

It is time to stop the math of deception and return to the math of the market.

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