Whenever primary school teacher Charles Mbwandarikwa receives his salary, he rushes to exchange the local money for US dollars. He gets about a third of his pay in Zimbabwe Gold, known as the ZiG, but memories of earlier financial crashes keep him cautious. Mbwandarikwa lost his entire pension during the country's 2009 hyperinflation crisis, and when a domestic currency was reintroduced in 2018, the value of his monthly earnings shrank from the equivalent of $540 to just $40 by the end of that year.
The Zimbabwean government introduced the ZiG in April 2024 to restore confidence and gradually reduce the nation's heavy reliance on the US dollar. According to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ), the currency is backed by foreign exchange reserves and precious metals, including gold. To strengthen public trust, the central bank issued an upgraded series of banknotes with revised designs and security features on April 7, noting that annual ZiG inflation stood at 3.7 percent last month.
Even with official backing and low inflation, many consumers and merchants remain reluctant to hold the currency. Sesedzai Chigumira, a clothing retailer, says she has recorded only a handful of sales in ZiG because shoppers overwhelmingly prefer US dollars. Economist Cornelius Dube observed that demand for the ZiG remains very subdued, pointing out that mineral reserves alone cannot convince people that a currency will preserve its purchasing power over time.
In response to these deep-seated doubts, the RBZ has dropped its previous plan to adopt a single currency by 2030, choosing instead a gradual, market-driven transition. Officials are expanding the ZiG's use in tax and public-sector payments, but economists emphasize that authorities cannot force de-dollarisation overnight. Instead, the government must sustain macroeconomic stability and create incentives until citizens and businesses feel confident holding the currency rather than getting rid of it.