IF you care to read some of the articles appearing in the foreign-controlled press in this country, you will think the ZANU PF-led Government is in charge of the entire world financial system.
Furthermore, that our Government has the power to influence the way the US dollar, Japanese yen, Chinese yuan, British pound and the South African rand rise or fall in value now and again.
On top of this, you will be left thinking all our financial problems, such as the liquidity crunch we are suffering from right now and the use of Bond notes are due to the purported failure by the ZANU PF-led Government to adopt the South African rand as ‘our’ currency today.
It is our aim in this article to show that the ZANU PF-led Government is not at all in control of the world financial system.
It is the big sharks we shall mention later who are in total control of the world financial system and poor Zimbabwe is only at the receiving end and has no power whatsoever to control or influence the way the US dollar or the rand behaves (or misbehaves).
We also want to show that the ZANU PF Government has not barred the use of the rand in Zimbabwe.
If anything, it is the Government who brought the rand into the country only for it to be ousted from our financial system through currency manipulation by the big sharks as we will show later.
But first, let us look at the world financial system and what part Zimbabwe plays in it.
Let us call a spade a spade here.
The financial system that is serving Zimbabwe is not indigenous.
It is not one that was bequeathed to our Government by our forefathers. It is a financial system put in place by the former colonial master.
And so first and foremost is there to serve the former colonial masters.
One Martin Meredith, in his book The Fortunes of Africa tells the painful truth concerning what we Africans got, as well as what we did not get, from the colonial master at independence.
Here he goes.
“The colonial legacy included a framework of schools, medical services and transport infrastructure. But only a few islands of modern economic development emerged.”
Then he talks about what is of interest to our story.
“When European governments departed, European companies retained their hold over business built up over half a century (or more). Almost all modern manufacturing, banking, import, export trade, shipping, mining, plantations and timber enterprises remained largely in the hands of foreign corporations. Much of the wealth generated by foreign activity flows out of Africa to destinations abroad.”
Meredith then makes a very important observation.
He says: “As the end of colonial rule approached, Europeans followed the old adage: ‘Give them Parliament and keep the banks’.”
Yes indeed!
We do concur with all what Meredith says above.
The former colonial master retained the control of the financial system – the banks — and only gave us political power.
It is therefore false and totally misleading for the foreign-owned press to give the impression that the financial system of the world which is wholly under the control of the West, can be influenced appreciably by African governments like ours.
It is true to say that African economies can be send tumbling into recession overnight by the West without their governments knowing what has happened.
And those governments will be blamed for allowing their countries to fall into that recession when in fact it is not their fault.
The usual way in which the economies of African states are send into recession is through currency manipulation by the big sharks – the big Western banks.
This brings us to the issue of the rand in Zimbabwe and the sad matter of currency manipulation by the big sharks.
Right now, the Zimbabwe Government is being blamed for not adopting the rand as its currency.
But the failure to have the rand as our currency cannot be blamed on the Zimbabwe Government.
It should be blamed on the big sharks – the banks. And here is why.
On January 31 2009, the Zimbabwe Government adopted a multi-currency regime.
Overnight, for all practical purposes, the rand became a Zimbabwe currency.
Yes, salaries, allowances, bus fares, payments of all shapes and sizes were made in rands.
This writer, like most Zimbabweans, received his salary from February 2009 in rands.
All the way to August 2009 the US dollar was shunned. Accounts at banks were opened in rands.
The Zimbabwe economy became completely ‘randified’, for lack of a better word.
How then can anyone blame the Zimbabwe Government saying it doesn’t want to use the rand?
But from the middle of 2009, the rand began to go southwards. (Excuse the pun.)
Why?
The big sharks! The banks!
And here is their sordid story.
The Mail and Guardian of February 17 to 23 2017 helps us with our argument.
“If South Africa’s competition commission were to succeed in its price-fixing case against some of the world’s biggest banks it would be enough to wipe out the country’s budget deficit (which is over 140 billion rands. The commission is seeking massive fines against 17 banks for their hand in allegedly manipulating the rand-dollar currency trade over eight years. Implicated banks include ABSA, Standard Bank and INVESTEC as well as international majors J.P. Morgan Chase, BNP Paribas and Standard Chartered.”
What did these banks really do wrong?
“The commission claims that from 2007, the implicated banks had colluded of spot currency trades… involving the United States dollar and the rand. The commission said the respondents (the banks) had also manipulated prices when dealers unlawfully agreed to hold back from trading at particular times and had created fictitious bids and offers.”
The Mail and Guardian goes on to describe the shenanigans the banks carried out.
There was collusion to manipulate prices.
Currencies were made artificially weaker or stronger.
All this was meant to make huge profits for the banks.
The manipulation of the currencies above by the banks sent the rand tumbling down against the US dollar, reaching a point where ordinary Zimbabweans and not the government decided to ditch the Rand and go for the stronger US dollar.
Therefore, the rand was systematically removed from Zimbabwe as the main currency by the big banks and never by anyone in Zimbabwe, that includes the Government.
Therefore it is completely false to suggest that it is the Zimbabwe Government that has refused the use of the rand.
No!
It is currency manipulation by the big sharks which made the rand an ‘untouchable’ in Zimbabwe.
If the rand were to be brought back to its value before the currency manipulation took place today, overnight the rand would become Zimbabwe’s currency.
Yes, overnight.
But to ask the Zimbabwe public to adopt the rand to be the main currency while it is still being weakened everyday by the big sharks is asking too much.
The Zimbabwe Government never refused the rand.
Never ever!
It was sent out of the country kicking and screaming by the big sharks through their currency manipulation.