Kenyan officially opens ZITF

KENYAN President William Ruto yesterday praised his Zimbabwean counterpart Emmerson Mnangagwa for introducing a new Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG) currency in the wake of economic implosion.

Ruto said this during his address while officially opening the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) in Bulawayo yesterday.

The ZiG replaces the local unit that had been rendered worthless by inflation.

Authorities have said the ZiG is backed by gold and foreign currency reserves as well as other minerals.

“This radical revitalisation of Zimbabwe’s monetary policy will contribute greatly to the country’s economic resurgence,” Ruto said.

“Taken together this bold decision by the government of Zimbabwe constitutes bold and radical economic recovery revitalisation.”

This is not the first time Zimbabwe is introducing a new currency in response to the country’s economic crisis.

Zimbabwe dollarised in 2009 when the local currency became moribund.

What follows has been years of experiments to re-introduce the Zimbabwe dollar as authorities tried to dedollarise, but without success.

Ruto acknowledged that Zimbabweans have undergone years of suffering with no solutions in sight.

“We all know that Zimbabwe has wedged its share of struggles, faced its share of challenges and undergone a great deal of setbacks and patience,” he said.

“It has been inspiring to witness the resilience and fortitude of the Zimbabwean nation and the people, who throughout the country’s tribulations refused to be victims of it and did not give up.

“Instead they endured and forged on with a confident patience over people who have prevailed against commutable advisory and won.”

The Kenyan leader’s state visit began on Friday.