Kiya-Kiya Economics
Who would’ve thought that a nation that is said to be the most literate on the African continent would surprisingly become the opposite when it was time to read an economics textbook? As far as the people of Zimbabwe are concerned, economics is about 'kukiya-kiya'. 'Kukiya-kiya' is a Shona slang term that can be simply translated as 'to improvise'. After all, Aristotle did state that “No great mind ever existed without a touch of madness”. In this post, we shall probe some of the economic miracles, acts of financial McGyvery and monetary gymnastics that have been performed in Zimbabwe over the past 2 decades. 1. Black Friday. Black Friday (a.k.a. the first time the Zimbabwean Dollar crashed) took place on 14 November 1997 when the government of the day paid out ZW$50 000 each to over 60 thousand war veterans. This was completely unbudgeted, and hyperinflation ensued. It was the beginning of the end and the Zimbabwean Dollar never recovered. 2. Standar