Zimbabwe Women Savings Club Struggling to Survive After Three Digit Inflation

 

 For years, Zimbabwean women have been living in destitute poverty, with soaring inflation swallowing their local currency and spiraling out of control. Women’s neighborhood clubs pooled together money for groceries and other necessities, but the drastic devaluation of the local dollar has thrown them into a financial abyss. 

Prices of basic goods like bread skyrocket to $4,000, while the value of the dollar erodes faster than they can save. In just one week, it lost half its value on the parallel market, an unimaginable blow to these women struggling against economic devastation. 

The Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency reported a staggering inflation rate of 175.8% in June, an astronomical increase from the previous month's 86.5%.

In a desperate attempt to save the little they had, the women's savings clubs gathered together at the end of the year to divide their savings. Despite the encouragement from local banks to partner with financial institutions and secure their earnings in interest, these fell away with the economic turmoil that has taken over in recent years. With inflation taking hold and running

rampant, these small savings clubs are struggling to survive.