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$1 for 2: Zimbabwe, a ‘Currencyless, Cashless Country’

For the sake of affluence or identity, Zimbabweans just love carrying their cash – loads of it – but since time immemorial, Harare has not ...

For the sake of affluence or identity, Zimbabweans just love carrying their cash – loads of it – but since time immemorial, Harare has not enjoyed a homegrown currency. 


Eight years on, the 2008 economic ghost is haunting depositors once again. Shop shelves are packed, but banks notes are scarce, rendering citizens to instead manipulate plastic money. Cash transactions via mobile transfers are spiraling, with 50 percent of adults trusting cellphone banking contrary to the traditional savings models.

By tinzwei.com
Lines of credit by major lending institutions are frozen as loans amounting to $2 billion remain unsettled. Come 2017, the public purse minister plans to tax mobile phone users, salon owners among a raft of budgetary proposals to up government revenue collection base.

Every profession is affected, save for cash barons.
Cash Dealers in Harare 

Once famed for civilising the nation, educators now carry blankets to sleep in banks queues anticipating a stipulated $40 maximum withdrawal. Instead of teaching, they spend more hours scavenging for the elusive dollar. 

To safeguard the oldest trade, prostitutes now accept plastic money. Vendors have also grudgingly accepted the plastic money trend. Each dire prospect creates daring entrepreneurs.

In addition to ‘landpreneurs’, Harare gave birth to another notorious Siamese twins: ‘cashpreneurs’ plus ‘waterpreneurs’. Cash barons are making a boon. To get cash back, one has to purchase undesired provisions. In some cases, cash is availed for a 10 percent charge, while the black currency market is flourishing.

‘Waterpreneurs’ are milking citizens searching for the sparse precious liquid. Like cash, taps and wells are dry. Residents spend hours to fetch water for a higher fee. Many households spend not less than $1 a day to acquire daily allocations.

Smiling to the bank no longer appeals here. Instead, a lady got sick after queuing for what seemed like eternity. After withdrawing her $40 daily allocation, she was too exhausted to leave. She later died, probably from fatigue and hunger. Sadly, this is not an infrequent story in the country today.

Pensioners are also singing the blues.

The elderly spend more money on the road to visit banks, and when they are done, they cannot return home to enjoy their sweat. Deaths induced by failure to access cash for drugs or surgical operations are not farfetched. Doctors demand cash up front, hence many elect to induce faith or die at home. 
 
Barter trading is now an alternative as salaries often spill over, staggered or never paid. And since the onset of cash deficiencies in the country in 2016, Agnes Matabvu, a private tutor is opting for groceries as payment for her services.

“One of my students pays with toilet cleaner for services rendered. His parents cannot access cash, hence we agreed to barter trade in form of goodies,” explains Matabvu.

In a bid to restore the country’s monetary dignity, Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe unleashed bond notes. Unlike bearer cheques, this copycat money is reportedly equivalent to the common but elusive American greenback. After a prolonged resistance, including a lawyers’ lawsuit, desperate accountholders finally accepted the proxy notes.

Since 2009, hordes of currencies are permissible for trade.

Yuen, Rands or Euros are legal tender here. Enter black market traders who exchange money for a living, constantly relying on gossips to fix the interchange rate. Concurrently, forged greenback denominations are on the move, a reason why bond notes were limited to $1, $2 and $5 values only, according to fiscal gurus.

The festive season adds extra bleakness.

Zimbabweans customarily spend holidays in villages with families. Without cash to spend, the festive mood could be doomed, but thanks to prevalent $1 for 2 bargains dominating all convenient street pavements. From used underclothing, foodstuffs, insecticides and fruits – these deals serve the cash starved poor to survive.


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