Monday, 4 August 2014

Currency is not the problem….Policy is the problem Mr Politician


There has been a raging debate on whether Zimbabwe should trash the United States dollar and adopt the South African rand as a measure to stabilise the ailing economy. This is a dangerous diagnosis considering the fact that there is no underlying reason or rationale for such course of action. No matter how much policy makers or economic commentators spend their energies debating on a currency to adopt the reality is that they are way offside and ignorant of the real issues which have stalled economic progress in Zimbabwe. The truth of the matter is that Zimbabwe’s economic policies are not globally competitive and robust to ensure the much needed growth and development. This is the problem with most African states they tend to major on the minor and major on the minor.

Ditching the United States dollar will not change the course of Zimbabwe’s economic direction by an inch but a new thinking in policy formulation and implementation will definitely result in the realisation of economic gains. Zimbabwe will not be granted billions of Rands by simply joining the Rand Monetary Union and neither will the economy flourish by adopting any form of currency and that means even adopting our own, whether we call it Ibwe, Pound or Dollar. South Africa will not accept the country into the Rand community due to policy inconsistencies and an uncertain economic future the country is heading to as this will also have an adverse effect on other countries in the community.



Money is always chasing production. This is the reason why China has got the largest foreign reserves in the world. China’s economy has been able to attract pounds, euros, dollars, pesos and francs amongst a host of currencies. The level of economic activity and trade which has come out of China has allowed a steady flow of capital which has further strengthened its economic growth and development. Liquidity or money is a function of production and investment, two qualities which are currently absent in the economic set up Zimbabwe finds itself in today. To quench the liquidity thirst the Zimbabwean economy is facing there is need for a radical policy shift which is able to propel the economy to greater heights and create the much needed employment, growth and development.
With all due rationale the US dollar has done no harm but much good to Zimbabwe’s economy and not any form of currency can avert the economic crisis which the country is sitting on. Only the right economic policy and strategy will deliver economic prosperity to Zimbabwe. Instead of wasting valuable time on a non-productive debate about ditching the United States dollar policy makers should be working overtime on making Zimbabwe an attractive investment destination which can pull some sustainable and profitable projects. There should be more emphasis on how to make the over hypnotised ZimAsset work and improved effort and action from the government.


Even if we chose to adopt the fanciest currency in the world the status-quo remains as long as the country is not able to churn out new production which can move the economy forward. Liquidity is a function of production and investment and unless we rectify the two factors any form of debate about currencies to adopt and ditch is mere noise and futile. After all we thought Zimbabwe adopted the multi-currency system not just the United States dollar.   

Friday, 1 August 2014

Mobile money innovation for financial inclusion


Zimbabwe’s mobile telecoms companies are changing the way banking should be done and they are making banks burn in the heat out of their innovation. The landscape of banking has surely changed as they keep introducing products that will make almost each Zimbabwean have a mobile money account. Telecel and Econet should be applauded for being the biggest engineers towards the quest for financial inclusion in Africa and Zimbabwe. They both have mobile money wallets which have been received well in Zimbabwe and the informal sector has taken advantage of this convenient product. Mobile money uptake in Africa has been slow with the pioneers M-Pesa enjoying brisk business in Kenya and so has Econet and Telecel. This kind of financial innovation should be spread across Africa and countries that have not caught wind of this should take leaf from the companies that have made it like M-Pesa Econet Telecel and Vodacom among others.

Telecel was the first mobile operator to introduce a debit card which could work on any POS device and ATM as long as it is Zimswitch compliant and this made banking easy. It partnered with other banks so that cash can be transferred from bank to mobile wallet or from mobile wallet to bank which is financial innovation at its best. This has also enabled clients to take advantage of channels such as Internet banking, ATMs and Mobile money wallets from their banks to transact with Telecash. The card is meant to cater for shopping bill payments as long as they are POS devices that are Zimswitch compliant which means it can do the same functions like a bank debit card.



Ecocash also has not lagged behind but it’s also appreciating competition from Telecel as it has set the bar high by introducing a Ecocash Mastercard Debit card. This means that the MasterCard will be linked to a mobile wallet account making it a first in Africa. The card will cater for both local and international transactions, thereby allowing access to anyone with a Ecocash account to be able pay for goods even via the internet using the MasterCard. The card also helps Zimbabweans who travel across borders in having paperless money as they will be making use of the card, bringing safety and security to them.




We have seen that M-Pesa has introduced BitPesa for Bitcoins which is the latest innovation in the market world and with Econet having a MasterCard linked to the Mobile wallet we await to see the next move from Telecel as they are also a force to reckon with in financial inclusion and innovation. Support should be given to these innovators as this will complete the cycle of financial inclusion in Africa.