Petrol pumps run dry across Malawi as fuel import problems deepen

Motorists forced to pay premium for smuggled black market fuel or drive to service stations at border with neighbouring Mozambique

Motorists in Malawi are having to rely on fuel smuggled in from neighbouring Mozambique as pumps across the country run dry, while some drivers told the Guardian they had to cross the border to get petrol as the country grapples with severe shortages.

We have been depending on smuggled fuel from Mozambique," said Allick Pondani, a motorist from the southern Malawi district of Phalombe. Some entrepreneurs have taken advantage of the situation and are smuggling the scarce commodity, which they are selling at 50% over the normal pump price."