The Sunday News
EARLY this year Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Dr John Mangudya visited Bulawayo to promote the use of bond coins.
His focus on Bulawayo and Matabeleland region in general was not coincidental, he knew that this is a region that has tended to take a slightly different approach when it comes to the use of the foreign currency.
There have been a number of twists and turns to the use of foreign currency and its so-called advantages and disadvantages especially to people in the country’s second capital.
At the time when most people from different parts of the country were crying about change, it was always available in Bulawayo although in rand coins.
There is strong rand connection among the people of the southern parts of the country.
Even when the country introduced the use of foreign currencies around 2009, Bulawayo and Matabeleland region were always inclined to the use of the rand.
It took some time for many people in the region to appreciate the use of the dollar.
They did eventually accept it mainly because salaries were paid in dollars but refused to cut the rand umbilical cord which remained attached through the use of the South African currency widely as change.
When the central bank introduced its centavo coins or rather the bond coins again Bulawayo was a suspicious problem child.
The central bank knew Bulawayo needed some special persuasion to accept the bond coins.
Dr Mangudya admitted when he was promoting the coins that most cities had readily accepted the use of the coins but there were reports in Bulawayo that some outlets were refusing to accept them.
The main culprits were commuter omnibus operators and that was why Dr Mangudya took time to address drivers and conductors at some of the ranks encouraging them to use the coins.
I attended one of the meetings with the operators and refreshingly they seemed to appreciate the use of the coins.
In fact after that meeting it turned out that the operators who obviously by nature of their business use a lot of coins started preferring the coins to the rand.
The main advantage was that it would do away with the fluctuating rates of the rand against the dollar.
For the ordinary person too, it was advantageous to use the bond coins.
Although change was available in rand coins in Bulawayo most retailers were not applying the correct exchange rates and most of the transactions were based on estimates often to the disadvantage of the ordinary person
At the end of last month, the central bank introduced its last denomination in the bond coins range — a 50 cent. This was in addition to the 5, 10 and 25 cent coins that were already in circulation.
The natural expectation was that after the addition of the bigger brother of the coin family, its availability will improve and slowly people especially those in Bulawayo will finally embrace the coins.
However this has not been the case, the rand coin has remained the dominant currency in small denominations in Bulawayo.
This time however it seems it has nothing to do with Bulawayo and its people.
It is simply because the coins are not readily available on the market.
If you ask many people now they are comfortable using the bond coins but they are not available.
In Bulawayo there is now a new breed of entrepreneurs who are exchanging dollars for rand coins especially at Basch Street terminus.
This is a sign that they know that the bond coins are not readily available and the rand still rule the small currency territory.
During Dr Mangudya’s visit he was told about the same problem. He promised to make the coins available. He even announced that they were roping in Homelink a subsidiary of RBZ to help in distributing the coins.
He promised that he would also direct banks to be conduits of the bonds.
But today the question is still valid. Where are the bond coins? Most retails shops and even commuter omnibuses still use predominantly the rand as change.
It is not bad but the thinking was that the bond coins will finally replace the rand coins and help eliminate the possibility of estimating exchange rates and giving the opportunity for people to pay the right price and get the right change too.
Something needs to be done to ensure that the bond coins are available on demand.
We are into our sixth year officially using the foreign currency and it’s not a secret that the dollar is now the official currency for the nation.
We have innovated with bond coins and we must be grateful because in spite of earlier speculation the population has accepted these coins.
For us to ensure that we do not risk wiping out the confidence people have built in the use of the coins, the central bank must put measures to ensure that the coins are readily available.
We are not advocating for the flooding of the coins but the good thing is that the central bank has clearly said the amount of the coins will be backed by real money.
This creates an opportunity where those who would have accumulated too much of the coins can walk into a bank and exchange them for real money.
At the same time those who want to use the coins can easily access them and this oils the economy.
Let us create a situation where those who want to get change in bond coins have them not this situation where we are still forcing people to accept rand coins or in the worst case scenario sweets and biscuits. Yes some shops are still forcing customers to accept change in small goodies like sweets.
The central bank needs to move in fast and plug this gap. We need to use the bond coins and for the people to do that they must be available.
Feedback
The journey from 1980 up to today has had been long. I agree we have gone through rocky and smooth terrain. We can now change and utilise each and every resource for profitability.
Zimbabwe as a country is fully decorated and adorned with game, birds, mountains, caves and mysterious geysers and hot springs like the one in Binga. All these wonders can inject money needed to revive our economy. Furthermore some of our safaris are still foreign owned of which if all these resources were ploughed back, we could be a better country today-0775238962
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