Commodity Online
HARARE: The southern African State of Zimbabwe is battling acute foreign exchange shortages these days as its political and economic crisis drags on.
This has prompted its people to engage in a different kind of trade, cross border illegal commodity exchanges for foreign money.
Easily portable, consumable goods from the country are increasingly finding their way into neighboring countries as cross-border traders search for deals to earn much-needed foreign currency.
This happens despite regulations by the rail utility that bulk goods have to be carried by special coaches with the traders paying for the shipment of such goods. Passengers and goods compete for space, creating pandemonium as traders trek to Victoria Falls where they then cross the Zambezi River in search of foreign currency earnings.
This kind of trade is a response to the biting shortages that have led to many businesses and major supermarkets recording massive losses. It was exacerbated by President Robert Mugabe's controversial government decree to slash prices of basic commodities by half.
The decree came after Mugabe accused businesses of deliberately attempting to sabotage the economy by making unjustified increases which left many here unable access goods and services.
Beer, soft drinks and cigarettes are some of the products which are being exported to neighboring Zambia by unlicensed traders.
Shop owners have learnt to limit the number of purchases as they are aware that people horde the commodities for resale on the illegal parallel market.
A crate of about 12 liters of the locally produced "clear beer" fetches 40 dollars (about 48 million Zimbabwean dollars on the parallel market). The same quantity sells for 6 million Zimbabwean dollars in Zimbabwe's licensed liquor stores.
Last month the country's largest beer manufacturer, National Breweries, announced that they were experiencing viability problems due to a lack of foreign currency to purchase raw materials after the government decree to slash prices, power outages and water cuts
Apart from Zambia, neighboring Botswana is another popular destination for traders bearing cigarettes and other commodities. Botswana's pula remains one of the most sought after currencies here. The so called illegal trade seems unstoppable at the moment.
