4 minutes read)
· Zimbabwe’s president has picked a fight with the country’s most successful businessman Strive Masiyiwa, which may cost the economy dearly
· Driven by a plunging currency and an inflation rate at 737% President Emerson Mnangagwa’s administration on June 27 restricted almost all mobile-money transactions
· Zimbabwe, 90% of commerce is conducted through mobile phones because of cash shortages
Zimbabwe’s president has picked a fight with the country’s most successful businessman Strive Masiyiwa, which may cost the economy dearly.
Driven by a plunging currency and an inflation rate at 737% President Emerson Mnangagwa’s administration on June 27 restricted almost all mobile-money transactions. In Zimbabwe, 90% of commerce is conducted through mobile phones because of cash shortages. On July 17, the police accused Econet Wireless Zimbabwe, which is the leader in the mobile-cash transfers, of money laundering as reported by www.trendsnafrica.com.
Strive Masiyiwa founded and controls Econet. His network has 11.4 million customers and a 98% share of the market. Econet is used for everything from buying household furniture to paying public-transport fares.
Masiyiwa, has a net worth valued at more than US$1 billion.The 59-year-old businessman and philanthropist has been a frequent critic of the government. Ecocash is accused by the government of turning a blind eye to the use of its platform to fuel black-market currency trading. The Zimbabwe dollar was valued at 100 per US dollar on the black market – four times above a currency peg of 25 to the greenback that ended in June – at about the time of the transaction ban. The gap has since narrowed as the uthorities allowed the official rate to depreciate to 72 to the dollar.
