Women in business have bemoaned the recent move by the government to scrap the multi-currency regime in the country arguing that they are now struggling to keep their operations afloat due fluctuating foreign currency rates.
Speaking on the sidelines of a Zimbabwe Women’s Bureau workshop in Harare yesterday, Anna Nyamazure of Mutasa district highlighted some of the challenges that are threatening her business as a cross border trader.
“The prices keep changing and now I can’t raise enough money to restock my business,” said Nyamazure.
“Transport prices change everyday. I cannot budget properly for a trip these days. If I use $50RTGS to go to Plumtree when I’m going to Botswana, after two days when I come back, the transport cost would have doubled and on top of that I have to pay for luggage. I end up trippling my prices to get profit enough to sustain my family and business as well,” said Nyamazure.
Another woman in business, Merenia Marombedza, who specializes in market gardening said she is now working just to feed her children since the economy is not allowing her to make profits to grow her business.
“I grow and sell vegetables and I now charge according to what I want to buy that day. If I have to buy cooking oil it means I have to pack vegetables and charge them so that at the end of the day I come back with a bottle of cooking oil home,” said Marombedza.
Government last month announced the end of the multi-currency regime and introduced a mono-currency (Bond Notes) which is now the sole legal tender allowed for all local transactions except airline ticket sales.
The move has attracted mixed feelings from the economy with the industry optimistic it will make them competitive on the export market while the ordinary people felt the policy will expose them to unscrupulous business operators who will hike prices in line with prevailing market rates against stagnant income levels.
