• Contact
Wednesday, February 1, 2023
  • Login
The African Business - News About African business
  • Home
  • EconomyNew
    Nigeria extends deadline to swap old currency notes by 10 days

    Nigeria extends deadline to swap old currency notes by 10 days

    Shocking IMF report reveals Angola and Ethiopia to surpass Kenya as top economies in Sub-Saharan Africa

    Shocking IMF report reveals Angola and Ethiopia to surpass Kenya as top economies in Sub-Saharan Africa

    Ethiopia and the World Bank sign financing agreements worth $745 million

    Ethiopia and the World Bank sign financing agreements worth $745 million

    Trending Tags

  • Business
    World’s Richest Rankings: Aliko Dangote maintain his position as Africa’s richest man

    World’s Richest Rankings: Aliko Dangote maintain his position as Africa’s richest man

    Global tech billionaires eye Zambia’s electric vehicle battery mines

    Global tech billionaires eye Zambia’s electric vehicle battery mines

    Africa will have 57 million pay TV subscribers by 2028, report

    Africa will have 57 million pay TV subscribers by 2028, report

    Africa startups defy funding slump as debt financing fuels growth

    Africa startups defy funding slump as debt financing fuels growth

    Port of Maputo achieves new handling record, sees soaring chrome throughput

    Port of Maputo achieves new handling record, sees soaring chrome throughput

    Court told Anglo turned blind eye to Zambian lead poisoning

    Court told Anglo turned blind eye to Zambian lead poisoning

    Ethiopian Airlines set to fly to Atlanta

    Ethiopian Airlines set to fly to Atlanta

    Angola: Poor Management of the Petroleum Sector with Effects on Declining Production

    Angola Sonangol plans to list on Angolan stock exchange by 2027

    Nigeria artists conquer the NFT marketplace in Africa

    Nigeria artists conquer the NFT marketplace in Africa

  • Finance
    Nigeria launches payments card program to rival Visa and Mastercard

    Nigeria launches payments card program to rival Visa and Mastercard

    Mastercard and ZoodPay join forces to launch the first virtual installment card across EEMEA

    Mastercard and ZoodPay join forces to launch the first virtual installment card across EEMEA

    MoneyGram joins forces with BOTIM to launch international money transfer to over 200 countries

    MoneyGram joins forces with BOTIM to launch international money transfer to over 200 countries

    There was a 25% increase in finance app installs across Africa between 2021 and 2022

    There was a 25% increase in finance app installs across Africa between 2021 and 2022

    Yellow Card expands payment feature across Africa

    Yellow Card expands payment feature across Africa

    Government starts payment of $674,5 trillion matured securities

    Government starts payment of $674,5M matured securities

    South African rand steady with investor focus on Fed minutes

    South African rand steady with investor focus on Fed minutes

    South Africa recently declared bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to be financial products

    South Africa recently declared bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to be financial products

    Angola banks entry into local Bourse gives credibility to economy

    Angola banks entry into local Bourse gives credibility to economy

  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Sports
  • Green Economy
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • EconomyNew
    Nigeria extends deadline to swap old currency notes by 10 days

    Nigeria extends deadline to swap old currency notes by 10 days

    Shocking IMF report reveals Angola and Ethiopia to surpass Kenya as top economies in Sub-Saharan Africa

    Shocking IMF report reveals Angola and Ethiopia to surpass Kenya as top economies in Sub-Saharan Africa

    Ethiopia and the World Bank sign financing agreements worth $745 million

    Ethiopia and the World Bank sign financing agreements worth $745 million

    Trending Tags

  • Business
    World’s Richest Rankings: Aliko Dangote maintain his position as Africa’s richest man

    World’s Richest Rankings: Aliko Dangote maintain his position as Africa’s richest man

    Global tech billionaires eye Zambia’s electric vehicle battery mines

    Global tech billionaires eye Zambia’s electric vehicle battery mines

    Africa will have 57 million pay TV subscribers by 2028, report

    Africa will have 57 million pay TV subscribers by 2028, report

    Africa startups defy funding slump as debt financing fuels growth

    Africa startups defy funding slump as debt financing fuels growth

    Port of Maputo achieves new handling record, sees soaring chrome throughput

    Port of Maputo achieves new handling record, sees soaring chrome throughput

    Court told Anglo turned blind eye to Zambian lead poisoning

    Court told Anglo turned blind eye to Zambian lead poisoning

    Ethiopian Airlines set to fly to Atlanta

    Ethiopian Airlines set to fly to Atlanta

    Angola: Poor Management of the Petroleum Sector with Effects on Declining Production

    Angola Sonangol plans to list on Angolan stock exchange by 2027

    Nigeria artists conquer the NFT marketplace in Africa

    Nigeria artists conquer the NFT marketplace in Africa

  • Finance
    Nigeria launches payments card program to rival Visa and Mastercard

    Nigeria launches payments card program to rival Visa and Mastercard

    Mastercard and ZoodPay join forces to launch the first virtual installment card across EEMEA

    Mastercard and ZoodPay join forces to launch the first virtual installment card across EEMEA

    MoneyGram joins forces with BOTIM to launch international money transfer to over 200 countries

    MoneyGram joins forces with BOTIM to launch international money transfer to over 200 countries

    There was a 25% increase in finance app installs across Africa between 2021 and 2022

    There was a 25% increase in finance app installs across Africa between 2021 and 2022

    Yellow Card expands payment feature across Africa

    Yellow Card expands payment feature across Africa

    Government starts payment of $674,5 trillion matured securities

    Government starts payment of $674,5M matured securities

    South African rand steady with investor focus on Fed minutes

    South African rand steady with investor focus on Fed minutes

    South Africa recently declared bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to be financial products

    South Africa recently declared bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to be financial products

    Angola banks entry into local Bourse gives credibility to economy

    Angola banks entry into local Bourse gives credibility to economy

  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Sports
  • Green Economy
No Result
View All Result
The African Business - News About African business
No Result
View All Result
Home Finance

Zimbabwe dollar’s second death seen as only a matter of time

‘When you get the Zimbabwe dollar you spend it quickly. No one wants to save in that currency.’

TAB by TAB
31/01/2022
in Finance
0
Zimbabwe dollar’s second death seen as only a matter of time
0
SHARES
3
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Zimbabwe dollar’s second death seen as only a matter of time

When Zimbabwean businessman Nigel Chanakira asked 100 chief executive officers at a seminar in Harare on Jan. 27 if they were willing to use the local currency, only one raised his hand.

Related posts

Nigeria launches payments card program to rival Visa and Mastercard

Nigeria launches payments card program to rival Visa and Mastercard

30/01/2023
1
Mastercard and ZoodPay join forces to launch the first virtual installment card across EEMEA

Mastercard and ZoodPay join forces to launch the first virtual installment card across EEMEA

26/01/2023
1

Zimbabwe dollar’s second death seen as only a matter of time

That reluctance is a stark demonstration of the government’s failure to win confidence in the Zimbabwe dollar, the reintroduction of which Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube has staked the stagnating economy’s recovery on. For the second time in two decades, Zimbabweans are abandoning their local currency.

At restaurants, a simple request for “the rate” sees one’s bill halved if it’s met in hard currency, and supermarkets openly offer discounts for goods purchased in US dollars. The government paid public workers their Christmas bonuses in dollars, and the revenue service collects a third of its income in greenbacks.

“We can’t deny the reality,” Chanakira, the founder and former CEO of now-closed bank Kingdom Financial Holdings Ltd., said in an interview. “When you get the Zimbabwe dollar you spend it quickly. No one wants to save in that currency.”

New policy

Between 2009 and 2019, Zimbabwe’s economy was dollarised after hyperinflation led the government to print trillion-Zimbabwe dollar notes before abandoning its currency, leaving the country’s name synonymous with economic malfunction. While the subsequent dollarisation tamed price growth, it hurt businesses as neighbouring countries using their own depreciating currencies undercut Zimbabwean manufacturers.

“Zimbabwe had become uncompetitive by 2013 and was burdened by an expensive workforce,” John Legat, CEO of the country’s oldest brokerage, Imara Asset Management, said in a note to clients.

In February 2019, the government dropped a peg that kept a precursor of the Zimbabwe dollar at parity with the US dollar. In June, it was rechristened the Zimbabwe dollar and use of foreign currency was briefly outlawed. Today the currency trades at 115 to the greenback, and more than twice that on the black market.

While inflation slowed from a 12-year high of 837% in July 2020, it was at 61% in January, still rapidly eroding the value of the local unit.

Officials including Ncube, a former Oxford University lecturer, and Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor John Mangudya, said government policy is to stick with use of the Zimbabwean dollar.

“The country is not re-dollarising,” Mangudya said in an interview on January 17. “We need to find a home for our currency.”

Ncube and his ministry didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Alois Burutsa, the lone defender of the Zimbabwe dollar at Chanakira’s meeting, said in an interview that “without our own currency, our exports become uncompetitive.” He’s general manager of Buy Zimbabwe, an organization that promotes local goods.

Capitulation

Yet central bank figures show that 44% of transactions in the country are conducted in greenbacks. The American currency is used to pay for everything from fuel to food, passports, medicines and school fees. Econet Wireless Zimbabwe Ltd., the country’s largest mobile phone operator, offers additional airtime and data if purchases are made in US dollars.

With the Zimbabwe dollar untradeable outside the country, companies need foreign currency to pay for imported equipment, consumer goods, and to placate an increasingly dissatisfied workforce.

And it’s not only businesses that are seeking alternatives to the local currency. The government itself is increasingly finding it has to pay in US dollars if it wants to get things done. Already it’s told public workers that they’ll be paid partly in hard currency this year.

According to Imara, the brokerage, 45% of infrastructure contracts are being met in dollars and the government has undertaken to partially compensate depositors for the loss in value of their savings when it dropped the peg to the dollar.

“Dollarization is the ultimate outcome of a failed economic policy,” said Gift Mugano, executive director at Africa Economic Development Strategies, a Harare-based consultancy. The Zimbabwe dollar “will be in the graveyard” by June, he predicted. Imara says it’ll be largely obsolete by the end of the year.

Chanakira was more optimistic: he said the currency could survive for another two years.

Zimbabwe dollar’s second death seen as only a matter of time

Source: Moneyweb
Previous Post

African Development Bank extends $10m grant to enhance climate information systems in Liberia

Next Post

New strategies are required to control food-price inflation

Next Post
New strategies are required to control food-price inflation

New strategies are required to control food-price inflation

RECOMMENDED NEWS

Ghana: Communications Authority gives Celltel green light to launch $300m Ghana Smart Cities Project

Ghana: Communications Authority gives Celltel green light to launch $300m Ghana Smart Cities Project

1 year ago
9
10 African countries that surprisingly have the cheapest gas prices in the world

10 African countries that surprisingly have the cheapest gas prices in the world

4 months ago
3
ANALYSIS | An inconvenient truth: The real reason why Africa is not getting vaccinated

ANALYSIS | An inconvenient truth: The real reason why Africa is not getting vaccinated

1 year ago
5
British Airways operates in, out of Abuja hours after UK travel ban

British Airways operates in, out of Abuja hours after UK travel ban

1 year ago
3

BROWSE BY CATEGORIES

  • Business
  • Economy
  • Finance
  • Green Economy
  • Lifestyle
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Uncategorized

Ads

Categories

  • Business
  • Economy
  • Finance
  • Green Economy
  • Lifestyle
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Uncategorized
The African Business – News About African business

We bring you the best Premium news about African Business.

Follow us on social media:

Recent News

  • World’s Richest Rankings: Aliko Dangote maintain his position as Africa’s richest man
  • Nigeria launches payments card program to rival Visa and Mastercard
  • Develop enabling legislation to fuel the cannabis sector to new highs and boost the economy

Category

  • Business
  • Economy
  • Finance
  • Green Economy
  • Lifestyle
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Uncategorized

Legal Information

Terms and Conditions
Privacy Policy
Complaints Book

  • Contact

© 2021 The African Business

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Business
  • Finance
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Sports
  • Green Economy

© 2021 The African Business

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In