The Media Institute of Southern Africa Misa Urges Mobile Firms to Reconsider Charging in Forex

Bank of Zimbabwe recently granted permission to charge in foreign currency. The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) has expressed concern that the charging for mobile phone services in foreign currency by all the major networks is seriously impeding the right of Zimbabweans to communicate.

Many people interviewed by Newsreel say they can no longer buy airtime for their phones because the little forex they manage to get has to be used to buy scarce basic commodities.

The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe recently granted the mobile networks permission to charge in foreign currency. This was after the networks complained that they lost money to hyper-inflation by producing monthly phone bills. MISA noted the inability of subscribers to buy airtime for their phones and said this added to 'the appalling state of fixed and mobile telephone networks in Zimbabwe which has seen subscribers failing to communicate as and when they desire, despite the high tariff charges.'
Although Zimbabwe's economy has virtually been 'dollarised' the majority of workers still earn the near worthless Zimbabwe dollars. MISA say they want the 'Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) to act with the full understanding that communication is a human right and not a privilege and that telecommunications remain key pillars of freedom of expression and access to information.'

This state of affairs however is not expected to worry the Mugabe regime who are acutely aware that information remains a powerful tool for exposing the excesses of any government.
There have also been reports that police in Bulawayo arrested over 100 street vendors, shop owners and transport operators who had charged for goods and services in forex, without central bank authority. The Zimbabwe Times website quotes a worker at the Bakers Inn outlet along Fort Street saying they were forced to close their shop while police arrested their manager. They were later told to pay a fine of US$20 000.

At the centre of the problem is that to get a licence to sell in foreign currency from the central bank costs between US$20 000 and US$100 000. This has effectively sidelined small businesses who don't have the resources to apply and also cannot afford to sell goods in the worthless local currency that daily falls in value. It's a 'do or die' situation were the small dealers have no option but take the risk of selling their wares in forex.

Meanwhile the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions has denied state media reports that they are opposed to workers being paid in foreign currency. A statement from Acting Secretary General Gideon Shoko said; 'The ZCTU position is clear and says that all workers should be paid in foreign currency given the fact that shops are now selling their goods in foreign currency, even those that have not been licensed to do so. Workers are even forced to pay rentals and fares in foreign currency.'