Zimbabwe’s first strike against its citizens has been the ban of mobile money platforms to prevent the further fall of the country’s local currency that continues to lose its value. The move has left users stranded as a huge portion of transaction flow through mobile money platforms in Zimbabwe because of long-term cash shortage at the banks.
The country is already suffering from escalating inflation with a shortage of foreign exchange. Just last year, the country banned the domestic use of foreign currencies and reintroduced the Zimdollar which crashed after hyperinflation and use of the US Dollar in 2009.
The market is now re-adopting the US dollar and the Zimdollar is losing ground, falling more than 100% in less than three weeks.
The monetary and economic uncertainty in recent years has forced Zimbabweans to switch from cash to using mobile money. With mobile wallets now accounting for 84.8% of all transaction volumes.
