Fleet management: how the Middle East crisis is affecting our day-to-day operations

A distant crisis, very close consequences

With the US-Israeli strikes on Iran since 28 February 2026, one of the worst maritime crises of the past fifty years or so has been triggered. Transits through the Strait of Hormuz were suspended within hours. This suspension affects the world’s largest shipping companies such as Maersk, CMA CGM, MSC and Hapag-Lloyd, among others. As a result, daily ship traffic through this strategic passage fell from 129 to just 6 in March 2026, according to studies by UNCTAD (the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development). The shock is likely to be strong and far-reaching for the African continent. 

Five weeks after the start of the conflict, a barrel of crude crossed the $110 mark on 6 April 2026, despite an attempt at regulation by increasing global production. In the streets of Addis Ababa, vehicles queued for more than 24 hours to fill up. In Zimbabwe, diesel prices were raised twice in three weeks. In Nigeria, the petrol price jumped by nearly 35% since the start of the crisis, rising to 1,350 naira a litre in cities such as Lagos. 

For business leaders who manage vehicle fleets, all this boils down to a single question: how can you remedy this problem and what is the associated cost?  

This market study gives an overview of the reality on the ground in Africa in the various countries where vulnerability is increasingly being felt.  

1. Overview: Africa facing the 2026 oil shock 

A mostly importing continent, on the front line 

The African continent is not under direct attack from the Hormuz crisis but it depends on it all the same, and it is this vulnerability that is tied to this indirect dependence. According to reports from the International Energy Agency (IEA), flows to Africa passing through the Strait of Hormuz amount to around 0.2 million barrels of crude oil a day and 0.6 million barrels of refined products.  

The problem remains whole and it comes from elsewhere, because many African countries depend on imports of refined fuels, in particular diesel and petrol. The crisis and market tensions reflect supply difficulties that make the oil price fluctuate immediately. In other words, Africa is not suffering the crisis because of oil imported through the Strait of Hormuz, it is suffering it because figures are soaring on the world market and the continent cannot cushion the increases to protect itself from this crisis. 

Very contrasting situations depending on the country

Admittedly, the crisis does not affect every country on the African continent in the same way.  

Indeed, some countries on the continent are more resilient to the effects of energy crises and these countries are also hydrocarbon exporters. They are Nigeria, Angola, Algeria and Libya. But even they are not spared: most lack sufficient national refining capacity and re-import refined products at higher prices. 

The most exposed countries are those that combine dependence on imports with low foreign exchange reserves, such as Botswana, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania and Zimbabwe, for which the warning is clear. Oil market volatility could quickly exceed national storage capacity. 

The situation borders on logistical breakdown in East Africa, a zone particularly vulnerable to Middle East flows. In Kenya and Ethiopia, petrol stations are closing or limiting the volumes they can distribute for lack of stock. 

A double shock: price and logistics

What this crisis shows that is new compared with previous ones is that it hits on two fronts simultaneously. 

The first is the fuel price at the pump. UNCTAD expects growth in world merchandise trade to slow from 4.7% in 2025 to between 1.5% and 2.5% in 2026. For African companies whose business depends on logistics, this is a double impact: their transport costs rise, and demand for their products may weaken. 

The second is the disruption of supply chains. Systematically going round the Cape of Good Hope is no longer a tactical option, it has become the only viable route for the large shipping companies. This lengthens transit times by 10 to 15 days, causing freight costs to explode and, in turn, insurance premiums to rise. 

For a company that manages a fleet in Africa, this double shock has very direct consequences for its operating margins. 

2. The concrete impact on African fleets: what the figures say

Fuel, an underestimated item that becomes uncontrollable

In a normal context, fuel already accounts for 30 to 40% of the operating costs of an African fleet. With the price rises of 2026, this ratio can exceed 50% for non-optimised fleets. 

But the problem existed well before the Hormuz crisis. On the ground, in West Africa and the Indian Ocean, Fleeti field studies show that up to 25% of the fuel a company pays for never reaches the intended vehicle, which means theft, undetected overconsumption, poor maintenance or unjustified detours. 

The 2026 crisis did not create this problem. It simply made it unsustainable. 

On a fleet of 10 vehicles, overconsumption of 20% combined with a 30% rise in pump prices is an annual extra cost that can exceed several million CFA francs or hundreds of thousands of Mauritian rupees without any alert being triggered, and without anyone knowing exactly where the leak is coming from. 

Postponed maintenance: a time bomb 

When budgets tighten, maintenance is often the first thing to be pushed back. It is a common mistake, and a very costly one. 

A missed service on a vehicle in intensive use can turn into a breakdown that costs 3 times the cost of preventive maintenance. In a crisis context where spare parts are more expensive (rising freight, disrupted logistics), this multiplier can rise further still. 

The Strait of Hormuz and African inflation are directly linked to rising oil prices, which feed through into transport (80% of African goods travel by road), fertilisers and food. When everything else rises, a vehicle breakdown at the wrong moment can become a break in customer service. 

Currency depreciation amplifies the shock 

Since the escalation, African currencies have depreciated by 2.9% on average. On the face of it, that is modest. In reality, it is a third heavy blow for companies that import fuel or spare parts priced in dollars, because the same quantity mechanically costs more in local currency. 

For an SME operating 5 to 20 vehicles with tight margins, the convergence of three pressure factors at the same time, namely price volatility, logistical constraints and exchange rate fluctuation, can seriously weaken its financial balance. 

3. What resilient companies do differently

They steer in real time, they do not just endure 

Resilience is systematically associated with governance routines consisting of discussing risks, clarifying “who decides what”, and explicitly prioritising initiatives. This is a reality for the large global supply chains. It is just as true for an SME that runs a delivery fleet in Abidjan or Nairobi. 

The difference between a company that absorbs the shock and one that drowns in it is often a question of information available at the right time. How much exactly does each vehicle consume? Where are the losses? Which maintenance has to be done this week, and on which truck? 

Without reliable data, these questions go unanswered, while decisions are being taken blindly. 

They acted before, not after

In Mauritius, we have the case of a customer that makes deliveries and has used Fleeti’s services for its delivery fleet for several years. For this customer, it is real-time visibility, automatic alerts and weekly reports generated with no manual intervention that provide the reliable data to better adjust their day to day. When the Hormuz crisis hit, they already had a credible database on their real consumption as well as strategic levers to rearrange things quickly. 

Another customer, a specialist in golf cart rental in Mauritius, has adopted the Fleeti system to optimise the use of its assets and secure its vehicles. An example that shows connected management is not reserved for large groups. 

In Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Morocco, Kenya and many other African countries, dozens of companies made this choice before 2026. Some of our customers have saved up to €94,000 on their fuel bill in twelve months. In the current context, this saving represents much more than operational comfort. It represents the survival of margins. 

They reduced their exposure to variables they do not control

You do not control the price of a barrel or the closure of a strait 6,000 kilometres away. But you can control what you actually consume, on which journey, by which driver, in what state of maintenance. 

This is where resilience is decided in 2026, and not by waiting for prices to come back down, but by optimising what depends on you. 

4. The operational levers for taking back control of your fleet

Lever 1 - Real-time fuel tracking

The problem  

Without automated tracking, you do not know how much each vehicle in your fleet really consumes. You find out at the end of the month, when the invoice arrives. 

The Fleeti solution

Fleeti IoT sensors measure consumption in real time and trigger alerts as soon as an anomaly is detected: an unexplained consumption spike, possible diversion, inefficient driving behaviour. You act the same day, not three weeks later. 

Average impact recorded: 15 to 20% reduction in fuel consumption. 

Lever 2 - Automated preventive maintenance

The problem

Services get postponed, alerts get lost in WhatsApp exchanges, and one day a truck breaks down at the worst moment on a site, mid-delivery, far from a workshop. 

The Fleeti solution

Automatic reminders based on actual mileage or engine hours. The fleet manager receives a notification before the due date, not after. Services get planned, avoidable breakdowns disappear. 

Average impact recorded: significant reduction in unplanned downtime and emergency repair costs. 

Lever 3 - Geolocation and route optimisation

The problem

You do not know in real time where your vehicles are, whether journeys are optimal, or whether a vehicle is being driven outside authorised hours. 

The Fleeti solution

A live map of all your assets, configurable geolocation, alerts in case of unauthorised use. Less wasted fuel, less unjustified mileage, more transparency for your customers. 

Lever 4 - Cold chain tracking

The problem

A temperature deviation in a refrigerated truck can destroy an entire cargo and a customer’s trust. 

The Fleeti solution

Immediate alerts as soon as a temperature threshold is exceeded, full history available to consult, documented compliance. A critical feature for the food and pharmaceutical sectors. 

Lever 5 - Dashboard and automated reporting  

The problem

The fleet manager spends hours compiling data in Excel, often with incomplete or out-of-date figures. 

The Fleeti solution

A single dashboard, accessible from a smartphone, that aggregates all the data in real time. Weekly reports are generated in 30 seconds. The time freed is reinvested in decisions that have value. 

5. Fleeti in Africa: a presence on the ground, not just an application

A platform designed for African realities

Fleeti is not software developed for Europe and adapted to Africa on the surface. Our CE-certified IoT sensors work on all types of vehicles and brands. The platform was designed to work in contexts of variable connectivity. And our teams are present locally in 12 countries including Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Togo, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Morocco, Madagascar, Mauritius and France, to support each customer on the ground, from installation to training. 

Figures that speak for themselves

• 98% of our customers find the platform intuitive from the first week 

• 15 to 20% average reduction in fuel consumption 

• 3 months: average payback period recorded 

• €94,000 saved by one of our customers on its fuel bill in 12 months 

The Hormuz crisis will pass. The question of your fleet will remain.

The reopening of the Strait of Hormuz does not end the African crisis; it only changes its phase. The continent moves from an emergency of disruption to a period of slow normalisation, still expensive and very vulnerable to a new incident. 

The ceasefire announced in early April lasts only two weeks. The structural fragility of African economies in the face of energy shocks will not disappear in two weeks. 

What the 2026 crisis has brought to light is something fleet managers have known for a long time but that is sometimes hard to get across to decision-makers: an unmanaged fleet costs money. A great deal, and silently. 

When prices soar, silence becomes deafening. 

The real question is not “should I equip myself with a fleet management solution?” 

It is: “how much has not having one already cost me?” 

Get ahead. Before the next crisis. Request your free demo of Fleeti, with no commitment, tailored to your fleet, anywhere in Africa and the Indian Ocean.