‘Open for business’ but bankrupt : currencies, the ‘new dispensation’ and the Zimbabwean economy

Abstract

The paper examines the Mnangagwa government’s economic policies in Zimbabwe. It looks at its ‘new’ dispensation economic policies, passed off as creating a middle-income economy by 2030. The study suggests that these policies, encapsulated in the ‘open for business’ rhetoric, were designed to create an image of political and economic reform. However, efforts to mask the ZANU-PF government’s unmistakable authoritarian traits failed. It is increasingly apparent that there is no significant departure in economic policies from the previous Mugabe regime. Zimbabwe’s crisis endures as the technocrats fail to resolve the monetary crisis and the economy continues to collapse.