...Strangely, Vitol states that “in Africa, governments control and manage the import of fuels”, which implies that all African countries proceed that way. Vitol’s downstream company, Vivo Energy, on the other hand, relativizes that statement by saying “in most African countries”. The latter means that retailers such as Vivo Energy do have control over their supply chain in some countries, contrary to what Vitol claims above. Moreover, Vivo Energy, which is only active in Africa, stated in a corporate brochure: “We are fortunate that, through Vitol and the fast-growing storage and terminals business, VTTI, we benefit from unique access to a truly global integrated supply chain with the world’s largest physical energy trader.” What would be the point of such synergies if Vivo Energy had no control over their supply chain? And how can Vivo Energy advertise the quality of their fuels if they haves no control over their supply chain? We regret that both Vitol and Vivo Energy fail to answer these questions...