Zimbabwe was once a very prosperous southern African country with a strong economy. However, as years went by, the country plunged into an economic crisis due to de-industrialization, low exports, low investment, and high debt.
Economic Crisis in Zimbabwe
Because of the country’s weak economy, hyperinflation soared to more than 5 billion percent in just a few years. The hyperinflation then leads to the U.S dollar dominating transactions in Zimbabwe for an extended period. Numerous people started using the dollar to buy their daily bread and other small purchases abandoning the Zimbabwean currency with less value. Due to this, Zimbabwe’s government abandoned the country’s local currency entirely back in 2009.
The governments abandoned the country’s currency to improve the state’s economy. But fewer investors were coming in, and the country was still making low exports even after the change. This, in turn, led to the low generation of an adequate inflow of fresh greenbacks needed for Zimbabwe’s new largely dollarized local economy.
Later on the last year, the government decided to re-introduce the local currency and banned foreign currencies for local transactions. Zimbabwe’s economy was bleeding, and the government looked to solve the problem through this move. Few Zimbabweans took heed of the government directive, and the black market thrived while the local currency quickly devalued.
Unbanning of the U.S Dollar
This year in March, Zimbabwe’s government relented the change they made and lifted the ban on the dollar. But another problem presented itself after the lifting of the ban on the dollar. Small denominations of the dollar were in short supply in the country. If people did have the dollars in small denominations, they didn’t want to put them in the bank. Instead, they kept them to themselves.
Larger denominations of the dollar have become too big for purchases in Zimbabwe. When shoppers go to a supermarket to buy goods, they cannot be provided with change. These shoppers are given paper coupons to use at the same supermarket on a later date. At times these coupons run out, and the shoppers are forced to take candy instead of money.
Patching up of Old Worn Out Torn Dollar Bills
Due to this situation, a niche presented itself, and a trader such as Marombe saw an opportunity to fill it. Mr. Albert Marombe filled the gap by Patching up torn dollar bills of any denominations. But Marombe mainly focuses on the $ 1 note as his primary business. As long as a note has a serial number visible on both sides, Mr. Marombe will fix it.
When the note is torn or worn out, tettered or even shredded by rats, he delicately, expertly glues it back together into one piece. Later on, he sells the shabby $ 1note for 80 cents, and it gets back into circulation. Many shops refuse it, but market traders take it although at a reduced value.
Before Marombe, 38, thought of the business, he used to sell second-hand clothes to make money. Now he is up by 6 am daily and heads out to buy $1 notes for between 40-60 cents depending on their condition, and sells them for a profit. From the business, he makes enough to support his pregnant wife and two children.
New dollar notes don’t come into Zimbabwe, and so traders like Marombe thrive. The business currently employs about two-thirds of the population in Zimbabwe. In various cities across the country, currency traders line the streets holding wads of both local currency and U.S dollars. These traders buy and sell different notes to put food on their tables each day. Zimbabwe’s government, however, says the practice is illegal, and sometimes police raid currency traders. The authorities seize the precious dollar notes and issue fines to these traders.
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