Petrol stations have now become shopping malls. They can’t really make a profit on petrol alone. This cost is one of the biggest costs to supply chains and logistics in Kenya. Remember all importers also pay for the railway levy.
The government now makes more per liter of petrol than the person who drilled for it, refined it, transported it and sold it *COMBINED*. For every liter of petrol, the government takes 51% of the price as taxes, but feels that dealers who would want 10% are greedy.
The government policy around petrol has made that worse. In 2010, cost of petrol had 30% of the cost as taxes. The government decided that a 10% profit margin was too high. They started regulating the price of fuel.
When global crude prices fell, they quietly and mischievously introduced more taxes, took the margin that would have previously been passed on to citizens and demonized the petrol station.
Wealth is built through a relatively simple equation
Wealth=Income + Investments - Lifestyle