Botswana's authorities began turning back Zimbabwean fuel buyers last week at the border posts in Kasane, in the far northeast, and Maitengwe, about 130km north of Francistown, Botswana's second city, but the main Plumtree border post, about 100km southeast of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, was still allowing single drums through.
"The move by the Botswana authorities is surprising, and as it is [being implemented] right now, I only managed to bring in a single drum of fuel, which will only give me 200 litres of petrol [gasoline], Nhanhla Sibanda, a fuel dealer on the informal market, told IRIN. "My clients need far more than that." He said the decision by the Botswana government would heavily dent Zimbabwe's already crippled economy.
Industry in Zimbabwe is estimated to have shrunk by more than 60% since 2000, unemployment tops 80% and inflation has reached a world record high of 160,000% and is still rising. Around 80% of the population lives on less that a dollar a day.
The move is part of a worldwide fuel problem and Botswana is looking after its own interests: record-breaking global oil prices, which climbed to just over US$122 per barrel on 6 May, and Botswana's currency, the Pula, falling against the dollar, have sent fuel prices in the country shooting up. The latest fuel price hike, on the back of increases in March, saw petrol prices rise by around seven percent in April.
