Carte Blanche with Perry

The newly introduced Zimbabwean Bond Coins February 2015 will mark six years since Zimbabwe adopted the multi-currency monetary system, commonly referred to as dollarization. The move was in response to the chaotic hyperinflationary period that had defined the Zimbabwean economic environment for almost a decade prior to February 2009. Most Zimbabweans still are haunted by the memories of that era when Zimbabwe`s then legal tender, the Zimbabwe dollar effectively lost its usefulness as a medium of exchange, store of value, unit of account and means for deferred payments- all considered features which give any monetary currency its value. Looking through history, it’s interesting to note that there has not been any economy that has reverted back to its local currency once it has dollarized. Panama-widely considered as the closest the strategy of dollarization has come to being successful; Ecuador and El Salvador all still use the US dollar many years after dollarizing. Th

Africa`s richest square mile and arguably its symbol of economic clout-Sandton City in Johannesburg, South Africa. In May 2000, The Economist ran with a cover titled, “The hopeless continent”, painting stark gloomy picture for Africa. Fast forward just over a decade later, and the narrative had changed. In its 2011 December issue, the cover of The Economist read, “Africa rising.” True to form, Africa had transformed from a warring, stagnant and object of disdain to a fast growing economic region alive with possibility. Africa continues to impress, and its development over the years has seen many lives transformed on the continent. For instance, between 1981 and 2005, Africa`s poverty headcount ratio rose at each three year interval from 205 million in 1981 to 395 million in 2005, statistics reveal. And in 2008, the ratio fell by 12 million to around 47%. The trend has been continuing since then. This data and several other indicators reflect the extent of the progress