Opinion / Columnist
In Zimbabwe we are all queueing to withdraw hard cash
17 Apr 2017 at 14:56hrs | Views
On the issue of liquidity
Crises in any form are an opportunity for new paradigms to emerge.
In Zimbabwe we are all queueing to withdraw hard cash of an estimated $300m according to private sector and $900m as recently estimated by the RBZ. On the other hand it is agreed that there is $6bn worth of electronic funds available for local transacting. That's more than enough for a vibrant local economy!
Regardless, if we all demand the lesser amount of cash of course they will be a shortage as demand clearly exceeds supply. The not so common common sense solution is to utilise the electronic funds of $6bn and the shortage will disappear so will thevl queues.
Right now electronic funds can be transacted using several devices and the least costly is a cellphone. Zimbabwe has the highest cellphone penetration in Africa. So if we use the cellphone to do electronic funds transfer we will remove the problem of excess demand to supply for hard cash and bank queues.
This requires that eg salaries pensions etc are paid into your cellphone and you in turn can transact without the need for hard cash. Even in the rural areas. This requires that merchants and other service providers accept cellphone payments and so on.
In Zimbabwe we complain so much we have become experts on complaining. There are opportunities for our youngsters to innovate new technologies to solve our current problems but we have become very good politicising every problem and waiting for change that may never come.
It is true Zanupf has messed up and we need them to go but in the mean time we have become so blind to opportunity and innovative solutions because of our anger at their failure and intransigence.
My point is that we can solve the hard cash liquidity problem now.In my opinion our attitude and unwillingness to change our behaviours continue to arrest us.
I can bet that most of the responses to this post will no doubt mostly be about why it will not work as opposed to how we could make it work! MUSEWE
Crises in any form are an opportunity for new paradigms to emerge.
In Zimbabwe we are all queueing to withdraw hard cash of an estimated $300m according to private sector and $900m as recently estimated by the RBZ. On the other hand it is agreed that there is $6bn worth of electronic funds available for local transacting. That's more than enough for a vibrant local economy!
Regardless, if we all demand the lesser amount of cash of course they will be a shortage as demand clearly exceeds supply. The not so common common sense solution is to utilise the electronic funds of $6bn and the shortage will disappear so will thevl queues.
Right now electronic funds can be transacted using several devices and the least costly is a cellphone. Zimbabwe has the highest cellphone penetration in Africa. So if we use the cellphone to do electronic funds transfer we will remove the problem of excess demand to supply for hard cash and bank queues.
This requires that eg salaries pensions etc are paid into your cellphone and you in turn can transact without the need for hard cash. Even in the rural areas. This requires that merchants and other service providers accept cellphone payments and so on.
In Zimbabwe we complain so much we have become experts on complaining. There are opportunities for our youngsters to innovate new technologies to solve our current problems but we have become very good politicising every problem and waiting for change that may never come.
It is true Zanupf has messed up and we need them to go but in the mean time we have become so blind to opportunity and innovative solutions because of our anger at their failure and intransigence.
My point is that we can solve the hard cash liquidity problem now.In my opinion our attitude and unwillingness to change our behaviours continue to arrest us.
I can bet that most of the responses to this post will no doubt mostly be about why it will not work as opposed to how we could make it work! MUSEWE
Source - Vince Musewe
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