Zimbabwe needs a strong currency to improve its development prospects. This is the message that different experts have been repeating.
The 2024 Economic Freedom Audit Report (ZEFA) highlighted that Zimbabwe’s economic competitiveness was being hampered by low scores on crucial indicators, including sound money.
Sound money is one of the indicators used to rank countries on economic freedom. Since the hyper-inflationary period in 2007/8, Zimbabwe has been forced to dollarise and thereafter struggled to return its domestic currency.
Could adopting a digital currency bring the elusive solution, and what would be the measures required?
ZITAP participated in the recent lunch meeting titled, ‘Digital currency: towards an upper-middle economy’ hosted by the Zimbabwe Economic Society (ZES) and the Frederick Ebert Stiftung (FES) on Friday, 5 September 2025, in Harare.
Philip Haslam, the writer of the book, ‘How Money Destroys Nations,’ enumerated the benefits Zimbabwe could reap from a digital currency.
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) has set up a unit to look into the adoption of digital currency, the central bank representative said. Renowned author of the best-selling book ‘Rich Dad Poor Dad’, Robert Kiyosaki, addressed the meeting, emphasising the need for broader financial literacy and education for prosperity in Zimbabwe.
With growing evidence and stakeholder consensus about the potential benefits of a digital currency, the issue of incentives remains paramount.
As Haslam highlighted, the potential for Zimbabwe to adopt and benefit from digital currency, including blockchain technology and cryptocurrency, depends on the incentives the government of Zimbabwe will implement for their widespread uptake.
Considering the rural structure of the economy is also important, stakeholders said.
For digital currency to be viable in Zimbabwe, ZITAP believes the tax policy needs to be aligned and reformed.
Zimbabweans and business entities have been complaining of regulations and measures that seem to punish digital financial transactions. One such inhibitor has been the Intermediated Money Transfer Tax (IMTT).
The IMTT, popularly known as the 2% tax introduced in 2018, is a tax on digital financial transactions. While the tax is earning the government significant revenue, having contributed about 7% of tax revenue collected by mid-year, ordinary people and the business community view the tax as a disincentive to electronic transactions.
Experts suggest the tax has also driven transactions from the formal banking system, and the preference for cash transactions, especially in the informal sector, is meant to evade the IMTT.
While experts like Haslam believe the adoption of a digital currency could overcome Zimbabwe’s problems with de-dollarisation, the tax regime remains punitive and needs to be reformed.