Disperse Cash “If you want to be relevant in a tech or fintech environment in Africa,” – Mukuru CEO

By Ross Moyo
Andrew Jury, the Mukuru chief executive officer, has said tech companies or fintechs must always have cash in hand to disperse so as to remain relevant.

The Mukuru chief executive officer, said “you have to have these strong on- and off-ramps to cash” to meet demand for dollars,
“If you want to be relevant in a tech or fintech environment in Africa.”

Access to Mukuru is mostly through an app, and in the case of Zimbabwe, caters largely to citizens working in neighboring South Africa who want to send money home. Clients make cash, debit card or mobile money payments, and once a transaction has been registered the money becomes available to recipients either digitally or in hard currency.

Zimbabwe’s preference for cash originated during the hyperinflation era of 2008, after a disastrous land reform program of the early 2000s set off a hyperinflation spiral that wiped out Zimbabweans’ savings and led to the national currency being scrapped in 2009.

This resulted in the United States dollar becoming king according to Steve Hanke, professor of Applied Economics at Johns Hopkins University.

“During hyperinflation, people get rid of their local currencies like hot potatoes,” said Prof Hanke.

Over the years Zimbabwe made a record six changes to reinstate its national currency since then, with the latest being the gold-backed unit known as the Zimbabwe Gold ZiG introduced on 5April this year.

Since its April launch, 80% to 85% of all transactions in Zimbabwe were being conducted in US dollars, as confirmed by the national statistics agency. While the new Zig currency has so far been stable, it’s still a mammoth task to convince most Zimbabweans to warm up to it.