Just a few years ago the Zimbabwean economy was in collapse and meltdown and the political system on the point of disintegration under the disastrous handling of the dictator Robert Mugabe. When hyperinflation ruled, a sign once appeared in the toilets of a hotel in Harare, “please do not flush Zimbabwean dollars down the toilets”

Three years since the creation of a coalition government, there are some tentative but notable signs of improvement. Inflation has fallen and the use of the US dollar and other regional currencies as legal tender has helped to finance essential imports of basic products. Unemployment remains above 75% of the labour force and there is huge absolute poverty, but the glimmers of hope are there as shown by this recent news report from AlJazeerah English.

See also:

BBC news: Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe land seizures ‘cost $12bn’