Running on empty
Running on empty Baobab CARS snaked around the petrol station and back down a dusty street in Mzuzu, a town in northern Malawi. Pedestrians armed with jerry cans patiently formed another line. "I've been here three hours, and spent three days before that looking for a queue to join," said Lloyd, a young chauffeur, his feet resting on his dashboard as he waited for petrol tankers to unload. Petrol stations across this southwest African country of 16m are either eerily empty or jam-packed. Malawi is once again suffering fuel shortages and supplies come in fits and starts. Economic problems are to blame. The government has failed to balance the books which means that foreign reserves, which it needs buy petrol, are running low. Several years ago this led petrol companies to default on payments. "The credit rating has dropped so companies that supply fuel are demanding cash payments," says Henry Kachaje, an economic analyst. The short...