As the rest of Zimbabweans readjust to life under a redenominated currency introduced by the central bank in an operation codenamed “Project Sunrise”, the sun has virtually set for a new breed of entrepreneurs who had turned the need for consumers to carry around large amounts of the old money into a thriving business.
Until Monday this week, Zimbabweans had got used to moving around with large volumes of cash. The hyperinflationary environment itself had become a niche from where the enterprising were eking a living. This hard-nosed group of businesspeople was literally making a killing out of the large volumes of cash.
New shops had sprouted in central Harare and its environs selling the much-sought-after note counters and rubber bands to tie the large bundles of cash people had to carry around.
Others were making a living selling paper bags outside banking halls for people to stuff their large volumes of cash.
Several more others were selling all sorts of sticky liquids to supermarket chains and small businesses for their personnel to dip fingers as they counted the huge amounts of cash brought in by customers.
Cash-in-transit vans had become the in-thing in Zimbabwe — not for security reasons, but simply because big businesses could not afford to carry their voluminous daily deposits physically to the bank.
And for others, the large volumes of cash that had to be counted every day had provided job opportunities at supermarkets where many were employed as note-counting personnel who spent the day doing nothing but counting money.
But now all these people are suddenly out of business or jobs. After Monday’s three-hour monetary statement presentation by Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) Governor Gideon Gono, in which the new currency denominations were introduced, thousands of “hyperinflation-driven” entrepreneurs had no option but to close shop.
“An hour ago, I was anticipating huge profits but I am suddenly out of business and I am not sure what I will do with these note counters,” said James Mutikani, who had since last year survived on selling note-counting machines to shops in Harare.
“I am not sure how I will feed my family. The sad thing is I had imported these machines and now I have to find a market for them, which is obviously very difficult,” lamented Mutikani, who spoke to independent news service ZimOnline soon after the new denominations were introduced on Monday afternoon.
But Mutikani is not alone. Before the RBZ’s introduction of a fresh family of monetary denominations on Monday, which has brought convenience to consumers and business people alike, the rubber band had become the magical string.
The band had displaced the money clip soon after hyperinflation picked up momentum in 2003 when Zimbabwe faced an acute shortage of bank notes that forced the RBZ to introduce the bulky “bearer cheques”, a temporary form of currency that helped ease the note shortage.
Thousands of roadside vendors and small shops had also become used to making a killing from selling rubber bands. But since Monday, it has been a new world and a new environment.
“There was lack of consultation before the new monetary measures. Otherwise I would have found something else to do,” said visibly irate rubber-band vendor Felicia Takaendesa, who said she was a widow with four children.
The future also appears bleak for foreign-currency dealers who are still to come to terms with the implications of the new monetary measures. Thousands were making a living from selling scarce foreign currency on major bus termini and central business districts in the country’s major towns and cities.
On Monday, the RBZ struck off three zeroes on all monetary denominations to bring down their value and ease the burden on consumers used to large volumes of cash. The central bank also ordered all people and businesses to surrender the old currency in 21 days. Business and the opposition say the new measures, while helping reduce the burden on the long-suffering consumers, will not help alleviate Zimbabwe’s severe economic crisis.
The Southern African nation, once the bread basket of the region, is in its sixth straight year of recession, characterised by an acute shortage of every basic survival commodity, a world record inflation rate of 1 184% and an acute foreign-currency crunch.
Strange as it may seem, but Norman Magumbo — employed as note counter at one of Harare’s biggest supermarkets — really hopes that predictions by business leaders and the opposition that the economy will continue sliding and hyperinflation will worsen would come true.
Magumbo said: “This was my first-ever job since leaving school in 2001 and if more inflation is what will make me keep my job then so be it … after all, even if inflation goes down, that does not mean jobs for everyone.” — ZimOnline