By CultureBanx Team
- Zimbabwe is now suffering from a massive 97% inflation rate
- Passport applicants will now face a minimum wait of 18 months just to apply
Inflation plagued Zimbabwe has become so poverty stricken it can’t issue new passports, as they face the worst economic crisis in more than a decade. Passport applicants will now face a minimum wait of 18 months, which could become indefinite before they can even apply, in hopes of leaving the country to find necessities such as jobs, medicine, bread, gas and electricity.
Why This Matters: The country’s president stated the passport issuing company is refusing to do any further business with the government until it has settled its debts. An ordinary passport costs 53 Zimbabwe dollars ($6.32), and right now officials are only printing 10 passports per day, despite a backlog of 280,000. Urgent passport applicants were being told “to come back at the end of 2020,” according to an official who spoke on condition of anonymity. Non-urgent applicants were told that no date was available for when they can apply.
An ordinary passport costs 53 Zimbabwe dollars ($6.32), and right now officials are only printing 10 passports per day
Zimbabwe was once lovingly referred to as the breadbasket of Africa, and now is suffering from a massive 97% inflation rate and cash shortages preventing even the most basic of services. Current inflation rates are the highest since hyperinflation forced the government to abandon the Zimbabwe dollar in 2009. Just last week, authorities outlawed the use of other currencies such as the U.S. Dollar and the South African Rand. In their place, the government issued a sharply discounted replacement currency called RTGS.
Situational Awareness: It’s not just Zimbabwe that’s facing hyper-inflation in Africa. Countries like South Sudan, Sudan and Liberia are dealing with inflations rates of 56%, 44% and 23% respectively. We could possibly see other African nations face these type of problems if they can’t get their inflation under control.
CBx Vibe: “Destiination” Desiigner
