Price of gas doubles as fuel crisis grows

Zimbabwe’s president has more than doubled the price of gasoline, hoping the increase will end severe shortages that are fuelling public anger even as he departs on a foreign trip to Russia and other countries in search of investment. President Emmerson Mnangagwa said the increase in the state-controlled price of fuel should ease the shortages that have gripped the country in recent weeks. The gas shortages highlight that this southern African country is battling its worst economic crisis in a decade due to a severe shortage of foreign currency. The fuel crisis is part of Zimbabwe’s overarching economic decline under President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who briefly inspired hope after taking over from his mentor, longtime ruler Robert Mugabe, with the help of the military in November 2017.