Nigerian authorities have updated petrol prices across the country from 557 naira ($0.72) per litre to 617 naira ($0.78) per litre, the highest ever since fuel subsidies were removed in May.
Nigeria's President Bola Tinubu, who has embarked on biggest reforms in decades to tackle issues including a high debt burden, ended the subsidy, which had kept prices cheap for decades, but had become increasingly expensive, costing the government $10 billion last year.
Since ending the subsidy, 56 private firms have now been licenced to import petrol, with ten of them due to make supplies in the third quarter, ending NNPC's import monopoly.
"Out of these ten, three of them have already landed cargoes, and others are also indicating interest in importing in August and September," Farouk Ahmed, head of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), said in a statement.
Nigeria, Africa's largest oil producer, imports almost all its refined fuel due to inadequate refining capacity and neglect of existing refineries.
