The Los Angeles Times has a fascinating article on the “Cowboy”runners in Zimbabwe who are able to find anything and everything in spite of severe shortages for a simple mark-up of 500 percent.

Shumba spends his days on a motorbike sniffing out almost- impossible-to-find items such as sugar, cooking oil, bread, margarine or cellphone SIM cards, risking years in a dank prison if caught. His markup: 500%-plus.

His cellphone is his lifeline. He gets calls from a couple of dozen contacts who tip him off when a scarce commodity — which nowadays in Zimbabwe includes all basic needs — is about to appear in a store. Then he swoops in.

Store supervisors and other staff members sell most of what they have to people such as Shumba, pocketing a cut.

“I get them from the back door. You can’t get them straight,” he said. “I feel happy because I can get things fast and resell them quickly. That’s my advantage: I’m fast. You have to be fast.”

Zimbabwe has been facing an economic crisis every since President Robert Mugabe installed his land reform  program by seizing farm lands from white farmers with no compensation.  The result have been a economy full of shortages and numerous operators who profit from smuggling activities.

In addition to those brokers mentioned in the LA Times article, the situation in Zimbabwe has sprung up traffickers who guide people over the border into neighboring South Africa.  An estimated thousands of people are believed to be fleeing Zimbabwe to escape the dire situation.