Zimbabwe's economic crisis, which included the second-highest inflation rate in history, led to a devastating impact on the country. The government's mismanagement, including printing more money and seizing land from white farmers, contributed to the crisis. However, the lack of banking infrastructure in the country led to the development of mobile payment systems, such as EcoCash and M-Pesa, which have revolutionized the way people make transactions. These systems have increased financial inclusion, reduced theft, and improved accountability. Africa is now the world leader in mobile money, and this financial revolution is expected to continue.
Here are the key facts extracted from the text:
1. Zimbabwe gained its independence in 1980.
2. The National Party won its first election in 1980.
3. Robert Mugabe was the leader of Zimbabwe for 37 years.
4. Zimbabwe experienced the second highest inflation in history around 2007.
5. The inflation rate in Zimbabwe reached 100,000 percent.
6. The government stopped reporting inflation numbers after 100,000 percent.
7. A loaf of bread cost 30 billion Zimbabwean dollars at one point.
8. Employees stopped going to work when their annual salary wouldn't even pay for their bus ride home.
9. Vending machines were put out of service due to the high cost of goods.
10. The central bank kept printing bigger and bigger banknotes.
11. A 100 trillion Zimbabwean dollar note was worth only 40 US cents.
12. The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe spent $500,000 a week ordering new banknotes.
13. The banknotes were ordered from Germany and were already worthless by the time they arrived.
14. The government removed ten zeros from all banknotes in 2008 and twelve in 2009.
15. Zimbabwe has a low number of ATMs, with 6.5 per 100,000 people.
16. The US has 174 ATMs per 100,000 people, while Macau has 324.
17. Many Zimbabweans lack access to banks and rely on mobile phones for financial transactions.
18. Mobile phone penetration in Zimbabwe is around 80 percent.
19. In 2007, Kenya's largest mobile network operator, Safaricom, launched M-Pesa, a mobile payment service.
20. M-Pesa allows users to text money to each other without the need for a bank account.
21. There are over 100,000 M-Pesa agents in Kenya who collect and distribute cash for users.
22. In Zimbabwe, the preferred mobile payment app is EcoCash.
23. In 2007, EcoCash had 6.7 million users, compared to 2 million bank accounts.
24. Digital payments accounted for 90% of Zimbabwe's $97.5 billion in total transactions in 2007.
25. The Kariba Dam provides over half of Zimbabwe's electricity.
26. Frequent droughts in Zimbabwe are extremely dangerous due to the country's reliance on hydroelectric power.
27. In 2019, a power outage disabled EcoCash's mobile payment platform, effectively crippling the national economy.
28. Africa is the world leader in mobile money, with many countries having high mobile phone penetration but limited access to banks.