Zimbabwe bans cash transfer firms

Many Zimbabwean lives depend on the money sent by relatives abroad

Zimbabwe has banned 16 money transfer agencies from operating in the country, accusing them of abusing their licences by doing deals on the black market.

Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono cited "non-performance and deviant behaviour" by most transfer agencies as reasons.

Thousands were stranded at post offices and banks after discovering they could no longer access money sent to them by relatives abroad.

Illegal transfer agencies are still operating and so far unaffected.

Standard Chartered Bank and Stanbic were among the high-profile banks affected, as are agencies such as Western Union and Fedex.

Surprise

The government's own Homelink money transfer scheme remains unaffected and a few unnamed commercial and merchant banks have reportedly retained their licences.

ZIMBABWE CRISIS Life expectancy: men 37, women 34 years High dependency on food aid 20% adult HIV prevalence Shortages of basic foodstuffs High unemployment Inflation 1,200% New high for inflation

Most of the estimated 3.5m Zimbabweans who live and work abroad have increasingly shied away from sending money through traditional routes because they only receive the official exchange rate - $250ZD for each US dollar.

Informal transfers - either through agencies, other third parties and parallel market deals - give you almost five times more: $1,200ZD.

Dr Gono said the transfer agencies whose licenses were suspended on Monday have until the end of the month to appeal.

He also claimed that this latest move - a measure that caught many by surprise - would help in turning round the country's shrinking economy.

But critics claim that the government is trying to bolster its failing Homelink scheme by getting rid of the competition.

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