Burundi says Hormuz disruption should not trigger fuel panic

Burundi’s government says the disruption around the Strait of Hormuz should not trigger public alarm over fuel supplies, even as the wider conflict involving Iran continues to unsettle global energy routes.

Speaking during a public broadcast in Kayanza on March 27, government spokesperson Jérôme Niyonzima said authorities would keep working to ensure citizens are supplied as much as possible.

Niyonzima argued that Burundi should not be unduly worried by the partial blockage affecting one of the world’s most important oil transit corridors, a route that has seen a sharp drop in shipping and heightened pressure on energy markets in recent days.

He also said the government was counting on mineral exports to help generate foreign currency, reporting that shipments had brought in nearly $100 million over the six months from September 2025 to February 2026.

That figure could not be independently verified, but it fits with Burundi’s recent push to expand mineral exports as a source of hard currency.

The fuel message came alongside a renewed statement on Burundi’s land border with Rwanda, which Bujumbura has kept shut since January 2024. Niyonzima said reopening still depends on the handover of people wanted by Burundian authorities, maintaining a condition that continues to weigh on relations between the two neighbours.