Politicians must appreciate Econet’s role
ECONET Wireless has been leading by example, although we may experience problems from time to time. This is not the fault of the Econet system, but mostly occasioned by the huge and ever-increasing demand which proves how reliant we all are on Strive Masiyiwa’s perseverance against Zanu PF’s stubbornness.
When he was hounded out of Zimbabwe, he went on to develop thriving networks in other countries, including in the First World. He was later to come back home and establish the country’s biggest mobile network operator. Years passed and EcoCash was born. He revolutionised the mobile money transfer platform to the point we are, way ahead of all countries of the world on ease of transacting.
Suddenly, from a society in which we were all struggling to access cash to pay bills or paid bills through cheques (remember we were limited to 500 units of currency per payment), we could shop and send money to relatives in the rural areas at the drop of a hat.
Previously, farmers who wanted to access payments for their crops had to travel hundreds of kilometres to the nearest bank to cash in their cheques with the inherent security risks, delays, and waste of money and time on transport.
Then, when it was time to buy inputs, it was again long treks to the nearest town to pay for the inputs. Of late, they could get paid through EcoCash and buy all their inputs and groceries, without having to venture away from their home areas.
EcoCash and Econet have also provided tens of thousands of jobs and opportunities for people to access small businesses dealing in cash and cellphones all over the country. A whole new industry!
Government could not have kept the country running without the advent of EcoCash when it failed to supply enough cash to meet the demands of the population. Masiyiwa gave the government a lifeline and made it possible for Zanu PF to hang on to power.
With the narrowing of space for EcoCash, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has shown a complete lack of appreciation of EcoCash and its contribution to the economy. Paying of salaries related to the poverty datum line of over $14 000 is now impossible, except over several days.
The restrictions placed on EcoCash are a myopic way by the RBZ to evade its responsibility of dealing with both the forex shortages and parallel market.
Econet has oftentimes saved Zimbabwe from a financial crisis. Masiyiwa is possibly the biggest donor in the fight against COVID-19.
The Zanu PF-led government has never recognised his contribution to society and thanked him. He and his companies deserve all the respect of all Zimbabweans.