Opinion / Columnist
It will take more than Mnangagwa's gold vault tour to restore public trust in the ZiG
6 hrs ago | Views
There's a saying: trust is built over time - but can be destroyed in an instant, and once broken, confidence is not only shattered, but painfully difficult to rebuild.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa's recent visit to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) gold vaults was clearly intended as a spectacle - an attempt to visually and symbolically reinforce confidence in the Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG) currency introduced in April 2024.
To directly receive articles from Tendai Ruben Mbofana, please join his WhatsApp Channel on: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaqprWCIyPtRnKpkHe08
Flanked by Reserve Bank Governor Dr. John Mushayavanhu, the president stood before stacked bars of gold and confidently declared that Zimbabwe now has a "solid" currency backed by real reserves.
The widely publicized tour was meant to project strength and credibility.
Yet, as the dust settles from the photo op, Zimbabweans remain unmoved.
Deeply skeptical after decades of monetary mismanagement, they know better than to take such staged affirmations at face value.
Zimbabweans have every reason to be wary of any government-issued currency.
The country is still haunted by the devastating hyperinflation of the 2000s, which wiped out savings and decimated the Zimbabwean dollar.
Since then, no less than five attempts have been made to reintroduce a local currency, and all have failed.
Whether it was bond notes, RTGS dollars, or various iterations of electronic and quasi-currencies, each experiment ended in devaluation, chaos, and economic loss.
Against that backdrop, the ZiG - despite being marketed as "gold-backed" - is viewed not as a solution, but as another episode in a long, painful saga of broken promises.
While the Reserve Bank insists that every ZiG in circulation is fully backed by gold and foreign currency reserves - purportedly worth US$700 million, compared to ZiG$17 billion in use - the claim remains unverifiable.
There has never been an independent audit to confirm this reserve base.
No third-party institution has been brought in to examine the true quantity or quality of gold held in the vaults.
Instead, Zimbabweans are expected to accept these figures on the basis of the president's word and the central bank governor's declarations.
In a country where trust in public institutions has been deeply eroded by decades of corruption and lack of transparency, such faith-based economics no longer inspires confidence.
What's more, Zimbabweans' everyday experience with the ZiG continues to contradict official narratives.
While government insists that the currency is gaining stability, the average citizen is still struggling to access it.
ATMs across the country do not disburse ZiG notes, forcing most people to rely on the US dollar - or even the South African rand - for daily transactions.
This scarcity has raised suspicions that authorities are deliberately restricting supply to artificially manage the currency's value.
In smaller denominations, the rand has become the de facto substitute for local currency, especially in retail and informal markets.
This alone speaks volumes about the lack of functionality and accessibility of the ZiG, which has yet to secure a meaningful presence in the transactional lives of ordinary citizens.
Even those who are paid in the ZiG, particularly civil servants and low-income earners, rush to offload it - either by exchanging it for US dollars on the black market or by immediately using it to buy goods and services.
This behavior is driven by the fear, born of lived experience, that the value of the local currency can plummet overnight.
Even the country's banking sector has shown a clear lack of confidence in the ZiG, with most financial institutions reluctant to offer loans in the local currency.
This hesitation stems from the fear that the ZiG could rapidly lose value, leaving banks exposed and unable to recover the true worth of the amounts lent.
As a result, most banks continue to offer credit facilities in US dollars, further undermining the credibility of the local currency and reinforcing the public perception that even those tasked with managing the economy do not truly believe in the ZiG's long-term stability.
Fuel is strictly a USD commodity at service stations across the country, with no option to pay in ZiG.
The same applies to essential government services such as passport applications, which are still charged in US dollars.
This dual economy sends a contradictory message: that while the public is expected to embrace the ZiG, the state itself does not fully operate on or trust the currency it created.
After so many false starts, Zimbabweans have internalized a lesson that no political show in a vault full of gold can erase: local currency is not a store of value.
As a result, they use the ZiG only when they must, and convert it into more stable foreign currencies whenever they can.
There is also the issue of the gold backing itself.
While the ZiG was initially linked to the international price of gold, that link has all but disappeared.
Global gold prices have been rising steadily in recent months - yet the value of the ZiG has continued to slide.
This divergence raises serious questions about the integrity of the currency's so-called peg.
If a currency is truly gold-backed, its movement should mirror global gold trends.
That this is not happening only reinforces public suspicion that the "gold backing" is more rhetorical than real.
Furthermore, the ZiG is not interchangeable with gold, nor is it exchangeable on any international currency market.
It cannot be traded outside Zimbabwe, limiting its usability and further isolating the country from the global financial system.
For all intents and purposes, the ZiG remains a closed, domestic instrument - its perceived value entirely dependent on trust in the central bank and government.
And trust, in this case, is in extremely short supply.
President Mnangagwa's vault inspection was likely aimed at countering this very skepticism.
But it raises more questions than it answers.
Why now?
Why does the president feel the need to physically inspect reserves if the currency is truly stable and backed by sound economics?
Is this not a tacit admission that public confidence remains dangerously low?
And can such a carefully choreographed display genuinely convince either domestic markets or the international community?
In reality, no amount of media coverage or presidential walkabouts will restore trust in a currency that lacks transparency, functionality, and credibility.
What Zimbabweans want is not a political show in a vault full of gold - but a currency they can trust, save, and plan their lives around.
They want a currency that holds value over time, that is available in banks and ATMs, that doesn't require black market gymnastics just to survive.
They want a government that is honest about the state of the economy, and a central bank that is independently audited and free from political interference.
The lack of an independent audit of the gold reserves is particularly damning.
At a time when public confidence is so fragile, the only responsible path would be to invite credible international auditors to verify the RBZ's claims.
Until that happens, the numbers will remain suspect, and the ZiG will continue to limp along as a deeply distrusted instrument.
Worse still, the shadows of the Gold Mafia exposé still loom large, with allegations of gold smuggling and illicit financial networks tied to powerful political elites.
In such an environment, is it really believable that all the country's gold is sitting safely in the RBZ vaults?
Zimbabweans are right to be skeptical.
They've seen too much and lost too much to accept grand announcements at face value.
A stable currency cannot be built on propaganda and press releases - it must be anchored in institutional credibility, sound economic policy, and verifiable reserves.
Until then, the ZiG will remain what it has been since its launch - an idea drowning in a sea of doubt.
© Tendai Ruben Mbofana is a social justice advocate and writer. Please feel free to WhatsApp or Call: +263715667700 | +263782283975, or email: mbofana.tendairuben73@gmail.com, or visit website: https://mbofanatendairuben.news.blog/
President Emmerson Mnangagwa's recent visit to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) gold vaults was clearly intended as a spectacle - an attempt to visually and symbolically reinforce confidence in the Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG) currency introduced in April 2024.
To directly receive articles from Tendai Ruben Mbofana, please join his WhatsApp Channel on: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaqprWCIyPtRnKpkHe08
Flanked by Reserve Bank Governor Dr. John Mushayavanhu, the president stood before stacked bars of gold and confidently declared that Zimbabwe now has a "solid" currency backed by real reserves.
The widely publicized tour was meant to project strength and credibility.
Yet, as the dust settles from the photo op, Zimbabweans remain unmoved.
Deeply skeptical after decades of monetary mismanagement, they know better than to take such staged affirmations at face value.
Zimbabweans have every reason to be wary of any government-issued currency.
The country is still haunted by the devastating hyperinflation of the 2000s, which wiped out savings and decimated the Zimbabwean dollar.
Since then, no less than five attempts have been made to reintroduce a local currency, and all have failed.
Whether it was bond notes, RTGS dollars, or various iterations of electronic and quasi-currencies, each experiment ended in devaluation, chaos, and economic loss.
Against that backdrop, the ZiG - despite being marketed as "gold-backed" - is viewed not as a solution, but as another episode in a long, painful saga of broken promises.
While the Reserve Bank insists that every ZiG in circulation is fully backed by gold and foreign currency reserves - purportedly worth US$700 million, compared to ZiG$17 billion in use - the claim remains unverifiable.
There has never been an independent audit to confirm this reserve base.
No third-party institution has been brought in to examine the true quantity or quality of gold held in the vaults.
Instead, Zimbabweans are expected to accept these figures on the basis of the president's word and the central bank governor's declarations.
In a country where trust in public institutions has been deeply eroded by decades of corruption and lack of transparency, such faith-based economics no longer inspires confidence.
What's more, Zimbabweans' everyday experience with the ZiG continues to contradict official narratives.
While government insists that the currency is gaining stability, the average citizen is still struggling to access it.
ATMs across the country do not disburse ZiG notes, forcing most people to rely on the US dollar - or even the South African rand - for daily transactions.
This scarcity has raised suspicions that authorities are deliberately restricting supply to artificially manage the currency's value.
In smaller denominations, the rand has become the de facto substitute for local currency, especially in retail and informal markets.
This alone speaks volumes about the lack of functionality and accessibility of the ZiG, which has yet to secure a meaningful presence in the transactional lives of ordinary citizens.
Even those who are paid in the ZiG, particularly civil servants and low-income earners, rush to offload it - either by exchanging it for US dollars on the black market or by immediately using it to buy goods and services.
This behavior is driven by the fear, born of lived experience, that the value of the local currency can plummet overnight.
Even the country's banking sector has shown a clear lack of confidence in the ZiG, with most financial institutions reluctant to offer loans in the local currency.
This hesitation stems from the fear that the ZiG could rapidly lose value, leaving banks exposed and unable to recover the true worth of the amounts lent.
As a result, most banks continue to offer credit facilities in US dollars, further undermining the credibility of the local currency and reinforcing the public perception that even those tasked with managing the economy do not truly believe in the ZiG's long-term stability.
Fuel is strictly a USD commodity at service stations across the country, with no option to pay in ZiG.
The same applies to essential government services such as passport applications, which are still charged in US dollars.
This dual economy sends a contradictory message: that while the public is expected to embrace the ZiG, the state itself does not fully operate on or trust the currency it created.
After so many false starts, Zimbabweans have internalized a lesson that no political show in a vault full of gold can erase: local currency is not a store of value.
There is also the issue of the gold backing itself.
While the ZiG was initially linked to the international price of gold, that link has all but disappeared.
Global gold prices have been rising steadily in recent months - yet the value of the ZiG has continued to slide.
This divergence raises serious questions about the integrity of the currency's so-called peg.
If a currency is truly gold-backed, its movement should mirror global gold trends.
That this is not happening only reinforces public suspicion that the "gold backing" is more rhetorical than real.
Furthermore, the ZiG is not interchangeable with gold, nor is it exchangeable on any international currency market.
It cannot be traded outside Zimbabwe, limiting its usability and further isolating the country from the global financial system.
For all intents and purposes, the ZiG remains a closed, domestic instrument - its perceived value entirely dependent on trust in the central bank and government.
And trust, in this case, is in extremely short supply.
President Mnangagwa's vault inspection was likely aimed at countering this very skepticism.
But it raises more questions than it answers.
Why now?
Why does the president feel the need to physically inspect reserves if the currency is truly stable and backed by sound economics?
Is this not a tacit admission that public confidence remains dangerously low?
And can such a carefully choreographed display genuinely convince either domestic markets or the international community?
In reality, no amount of media coverage or presidential walkabouts will restore trust in a currency that lacks transparency, functionality, and credibility.
What Zimbabweans want is not a political show in a vault full of gold - but a currency they can trust, save, and plan their lives around.
They want a currency that holds value over time, that is available in banks and ATMs, that doesn't require black market gymnastics just to survive.
They want a government that is honest about the state of the economy, and a central bank that is independently audited and free from political interference.
The lack of an independent audit of the gold reserves is particularly damning.
At a time when public confidence is so fragile, the only responsible path would be to invite credible international auditors to verify the RBZ's claims.
Until that happens, the numbers will remain suspect, and the ZiG will continue to limp along as a deeply distrusted instrument.
Worse still, the shadows of the Gold Mafia exposé still loom large, with allegations of gold smuggling and illicit financial networks tied to powerful political elites.
In such an environment, is it really believable that all the country's gold is sitting safely in the RBZ vaults?
Zimbabweans are right to be skeptical.
They've seen too much and lost too much to accept grand announcements at face value.
A stable currency cannot be built on propaganda and press releases - it must be anchored in institutional credibility, sound economic policy, and verifiable reserves.
Until then, the ZiG will remain what it has been since its launch - an idea drowning in a sea of doubt.
© Tendai Ruben Mbofana is a social justice advocate and writer. Please feel free to WhatsApp or Call: +263715667700 | +263782283975, or email: mbofana.tendairuben73@gmail.com, or visit website: https://mbofanatendairuben.news.blog/
Source - Tendai Ruben Mbofana
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