What's the Price of Gasoline in Tanzania?

What's the price of a gallon of gas?

That's always a popular question among traveling Americans.  No one remembers the price of a gallon of milk or a loaf of bread - but we all recall what we paid for gas last week!

Before answering, let's take a look at a gas station as we move by on the bus.


Most of the stations we saw follow the American model of gas pumps and convenience store.  But there is a lot more to notice in this picture.  This happens to be an eafco station.  That's the small local oil distributor, East African Fossils Co., Limited.  There are three different retail outlets on the first floor: an Eafco shop, a Mini-supermarket and a Gift Shop.  Most of the retail stores that I saw share three or four small shops in a single building.  The grates over the windows are typical.  I'd love to hold the iron bar concession in the country.

Note the water tank on the roof.  With electricity being somewhat unreliable, many businesses and higher end homes keep a tank on the roof to insure supply.  The red clay and slightly rusted metal roofs on the houses in the background are typical of the countryside.

Back to the question of gasoline prices.  They were pretty consistent around the area we saw, whether chalked onto boards or posted in plastic.


At 2141 Tanzanian Shillings per litre and the exchange rate of 1628 T.S per dollar, we get $4.98 per gallon. 

We were in a Safari-modified Range Rover during much of our driving tour.  Our driver filled up the tank with diesel and we watched the dials spin as the total came to 300,016 shillings.