Zimbabwe’s descent towards economic ruin has been widely reported – the economy shrank by 13.7% and 13.2% respectively in 2002 and 2003; foreign exchange reserves were down to just US$10m by the end of last year (worth just 0.1 months of import cover); inflation is running at around 600% and up to seven million Zimbabweans will this year need food aid or face hunger.
But such all-too-familiar tales of woe have obscured a gripping sideshow in the Zimbabwean saga. Towards the end of last year the country’s banking system came perilously close to meltdown, was rescued with timely but tough intervention from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ), and now faces a wave of consolidation. As if that was not enough, the man behind the sector’s rescue, RBZ governor Gideon Gono, has had to endure death threats from unknown enemies on the receiving end of his efforts to sort the problem out.
