CEO Africa RoundTable Wraps Up Amid Calls For De-dollarisation-But Who’s Leading The Charge

By Shingirai Vambe – Victoria Falls

The just-ended CEO Africa RoundTable in Victoria Falls turned into a fiery economic debate as business leaders, economists, and policymakers grilled the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) over its push toward de-dollarization and the restoration of a mono-currency regime anchored on the Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG).

Deputy Governor Jesmine Chipika, who stood in for the RBZ Governor, faced a battery of tough questions from over 200 delegates, among them Kenneth Sharpe, Nigel Chanakira, and Prof. Gift Mugano, as Zimbabwe’s long-running currency crisis took centre stage.

Zimbabwe’s troubled monetary history loomed over the discussions. The country experienced one of the worst hyperinflation crises in modern history, with inflation skyrocketing to over a billion percent before the adoption of the US dollar during the 2009 Government of National Unity led by Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai, with Arthur Mutambara serving as Deputy Prime Minister.

The dollar brought temporary stability but eroded local wealth and destroyed confidence in domestic money. Over the years, the government has reintroduced various iterations of local currency, from bond notes to a transaction being converted to a currency, RTGS dollars, and now the Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG), but public trust remains elusive.

Taking the podium, Chipika passionately defended the central bank’s roadmap towards a mono-currency system, arguing that the ZiG has brought relative stability, reduced inflation, and increased reserves.

Indeed, there is demand in the Zimbabwean market for the ZiG, as its exchange rate with the dollar, currently sit on US$1: ZiG$34.

“Our core mandate is to ensure a stable currency, a stable exchange rate, and low inflation,” she said. “If monetary policy fails to deliver macroeconomic stability, all your wealth creation efforts will come to naught.”

Chipika told delegates that foreign currency reserves had risen from US$276 million in April 2024 to US$900 million by September, with the bank targeting US$1 billion by year-end, enough, she said, to cover the ZiG money supply four times over.

She cited steady month-on-month inflation averaging 0.5% and an increase in ZiG usage from 26% to 40% of transactions as indicators of progress.

But not everyone in the room was convinced.

Property mogul Kenneth Sharpe bluntly told the Deputy Governor that public trust in the RBZ remained near zero.

“From 1980 to now, de-dollarisation has failed,” Sharpe said. “We don’t trust you, there’s something not right. If ZiG is stable, why can’t government buy fuel with it?”

Sharpe, speaking from the perspective of the real estate sector, warned that the rush toward mono-currency could mirror past policy disasters. Drawing lessons from Israel, he noted that achieving currency stability took that country three decades, not five years.

“We must be realistic. History shows us that such transitions take time, even for nations with far stronger economies and global support than ours,” he said.

Former Kingdom Bank founder Nigel Chanakira offered a broader global context. He argued that the global economy was already shifting away from dollar dominance, with rare minerals and gold emerging as new stores of value.

“The global political landscape has made the US dollar less relevant,” he said. “I would vote for a multi-currency system rather than sitting on US dollars.”

Chanakira, however, warned that without transparency and fiscal discipline, no currency, gold-backed or otherwise, would earn confidence.

Economist Prof. Gift Mugano supported the idea of a strong local currency but cautioned that it must be functional, accessible, and trusted.

“We all want a local currency,” he said. “But it must be one you can actually use to buy anything, not just a theoretical one.”

Advocate Mushoriwa echoed those sentiments, insisting that without structural reforms, confidence and trust would remain unattainable.

“Without reforms, there will be no satisfaction, just repetition of past mistakes,” he said.

Former Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara delivered one of the day’s most pointed remarks, lamenting the absence of a genuine national economic agenda.

“If I were Mugabe or Mnangagwa, I would have called my friends to fix the economy,” he said. “That’s why they are in Mutare and we are here in Victoria Falls. There is no national interest guiding our actions.”

Despite the skepticism, Chipika struck a conciliatory tone, acknowledging the RBZ’s legacy of mistrust and pledging greater engagement.

“Confidence is not legislated, it is earned,” she said. “We are opening lines of communication with key stakeholders, because this transition must be gradual and market-led.”

Delegates commended her for standing her ground in the absence of senior government ministers, who were attending a concurrent political party conference.

By the close of the session, one theme stood out, stability without confidence is not enough. While the RBZ presented encouraging figures, business leaders demanded more transparency, inclusivity, and realism before embracing the ZiG or any mono-currency dream.

As Trevor Ncube aptly summed it up, “the real question is not whether the ZiG is working today, it’s whether Zimbabweans believe it will still work tomorrow.”

About The Author