Zimbabwe Shortages

Article

Zimbabweans abroad have found ways to help friends and relatives back home in times of growing economic crisis – giving part of their earnings in South Africa, for example, to businessmen there, who then truck food, cooking oil and other scarcities across the border. Now Internet-based companies are offering a high-tech solution: Go online and buy loved ones back home everything from fuel and food to generators. The Web site Mukuru.com offers an alternative to long lines at gas stations short of fuel. Once a friend or relative has logged on and paid for fuel, the company sends a text message to the recipient’s cell phone in Zimbabwe containing a 10-digit number the person can exchange for vouchers at a designated coupon office.