The Challenges of Buying Something in Zimbabwe



Biggest challenge in Zim is getting one's hands on money, so that they can buy something. The local currency is regarded with suspicion, and it is against the law to exchange dollars, though there is an active black market. I have already met a money changer who has solved a lot of my problems in that regard. Few people use banks for their local currency, because they could wake up and discover it is worthless. Just about all products are imported, paid for in American dollars, and because the Zim currency is not cannot be converted on the international market, they are paid for in dollars, which inflates the price.

Setup a bank account in town which has two separate accounts for American dollars, foreign currency, and the local currency, called everything from bonds to dollars to RTGS. Need a letter of employment to do that. Took a long time, all morning, but accomplished it. Now I just have to wait to have the money show up from my American bank account. Many ATMs in town, none with money in them. No place, except the tourist hotels and places that cater to tourists accepts a credit card. 


Most transactions are done by mobile phone, using what is called ecocash. The vendor has a telephone number than you send money to. Another system uses a swipe card, issued from a bank, and there is always cash, but it is hard to come by. I was in Pick n Pay yesterday and perhaps four people came up to me, asking for cash. The street vendors, or which there are many, selling vegetables, USBs, shoes, on and on, will usually take ecocash, USDs or RTSGs.

Prices for food are reasonable, for imported products higher, but not unreasonably so. There is plenty to buy, just paying for it is the challenge.

For Zimbos with cars, they must stay in a queue for hours to get petrol. Many stations don't even have petrol.

Mutare is on the border with Mozambique. People from Mozambique come over here to shop, which says a lot about Mozambique, but, to my surprise, and pleasure, the grocery stores here are stuffed full of food, everything I could possibly want, much like a western store with a bakery and deli. Prices are a little less than what they are in the U.S. It took me a while to run down a French press coffee maker, but I did find one, perhaps the last one in town. On campus, I can have dinner for less than two dollars, basic meal: beef or chicken, rice or potatoes, and a vegetable. Avocados are plentiful, the bigger ones which are not, to me, as tasty as the smaller ones from Mexico, but they are only .20 - .30 cents apiece.

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