Zimbabwe govt considering crypto as legal tender

The government of Zimbabwe is reportedly weighing its options with regards to adopting cryptocurrency as a legal payment service. Also, there’s reports that the government has started consulting various stakeholders to fully understand the benefits inherent from the use of the virtual currency.

Zimbabwe Begins Consultations With the Private Sector

Speaking during an Information Communication Technologies (ICT) summit that ended on November 6, Brigadier General (Retired) Charles Wekwete — who is the Permanent Secretary of the Computer Society of Zimbabwe (CSZ) and also the Head of e-government Technology Unit in the Office of the President — has confirmed that consultations with the private sector are already ongoing.

As of today, many countries are already using cryptocurrencies as a payment method while others such as Zimbabwe are still a bit skeptical of its use cases. The skepticisms is largely as a result of the possibilities of the digital currencies’ potentials of facilitating money laundering and other illegal flow of funds, which sometimes can even fuel terrorism.

When asked by CSZ members asked what the government of Zimbabwe was doing to adopt cryptocurrency in light on new global trends, Brig. Gen Wekwete simply said that the government, just like many others around the world is still not very clear on cryptocurrencies. He explains the the government is still trying to fully understand it, and create policies around its dealings. He then added that the government is already gathering views from various sectors of society in order to eventually formulate necessary policies, and that sooner or later statements will be issued.

The president of CSZ, Mr Allen Saruchera also admitted that there are many opportunities in cryptocurrency like blockchain and other service deliveries. However, he mentioned the need to put security in place.

The summit was held under the theme: “Digital Innovations For Post Pandemic Recovery.”