Forex facility for Matabeleland traders
Killer Zivhu

Killer Zivhu

Nqobile Tshili Bulawayo Bureau
The Cross Border Traders Association (CBTA) is targeting 10 000 traders in Matabeleland region to benefit from the $15 million foreign currency facility unveiled by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe recently. In an interview yesterday, CBTA president Dr Killer Zivhu said the facility will provide a platform for traders to formalise their operations. He said since the introduction of bond notes last year, cross border traders were struggling to access foreign currency, which is critical in their business.

Dr Zivhu said this resulted in some of the traders increasing the prices of their goods, which also affected their business. He said his association had to engage the central bank, resulting in the availing of the foreign currency that will be accessed through Homelink, a subsidiary of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.

The traders would be required to open bank accounts with Agribank, following which the CBTA will refer them to Homelink to access the cash.

“In Bulawayo for the mean time, we’re targeting our 5 000 members, but all in all we’re targeting more than 10 000 people in the Matabeleland region,” said Dr Zivhu. “We have members in Beitbridge, Gwanda, Victoria Falls and other districts as well.”

Dr Zivhu said they expected to launch the facility in Bulawayo next week, at a function expected to be attended by cross border traders and officials from Agribank and Homelink. He said the new set up will ensure the security of operators as they would not need to hoard cash any more and turn to the informal market to purchase forex.

“Now, everyone is going to take their money to the bank because most of the traders were at risk of losing large sums of money,” he said. “They were being forced to carry the money every where when they went outside the country to purchase goods for resale.

“This was putting them at a risk of being robbed. Now, Homelink can deposit their cash into their Visa cards accounts.”

Dr Zivhu called on CBTA members to visit their local offices for them to learn more about the new facility. He said they were in the process of coming up with a set up which will ensure that no one abused the loan facility for the purposes of externalising cash.

The facility was launched in Harare last week and some members have already started benefiting.

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