Shortage of petroleum products hits hard in Malawi, forcing motorists to buy the commodity at almost double the actual pump selling price in black markets, a situation which is worsening the cost of living for the people who are already straggling because of the economic challenges the country is facing.

One of the mini bus taxi drivers who asked for anonymity said “business is so hard, “most of our time is spent on the long ques waiting to buy fuel, when you go to the road you find customers negotiating for lower prices, yes our economy is bad but we are also answerable to our bosses”

Moving around Lilongwe, the capital City of Malawi, most gas stations are closed while a few which have the commodity have long queues. This is forcing some motorists to opt for black markets, in order to salvage their daily errands.

A taxi driver well known as Gigy, is now into petrol buying and selling business a thing which he said is benefiting him more than his taxi business. He says “selling petrol is yielding me more than carrying passengers because am selling my petrol at 4,000 Malawi kwacha per liter which is about 3.89 USD after buying from the pump at 1,946 Malawi kwacha about 1.89 USD”.

The Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority MERA Chief Executive Officer Henry Kachaje, last week told journalists that the country has been receiving a 75 percent lower than the optimal supply of fuel since January this year.

He added that MERA has been working with the National Oil Company of Malawi NOCMA and Petroleum Importers Limited PIL to ensure that there is a stable supply of fuel in the country.

However, NOCMA deputy CEO Helen Buluma-, attributed the scarcity of fuel that the country is facing to the unavailability of forex and pricing of fuel on the international market.