Zimbabwe Economic Crisis: The Social Dimension of the crisis

Zimbabwe broke the world record with the highest annual inflation rate of 231,000,000% (BBC news, 2008). As a result, it faced severe economic crisis, which sent many Zimbabweans to Diaspora in search for greener pastures. Empty shelves and poor service delivery became the order of the day as all sectors of the economy were affected. Zimbabwe, the once bread-basket for Africa, became the „empty basket‟. Standards of people deteriorated by the day as industries shut-down and employees laid off. However the de facto multicurrency system brought about change to the economic status. This paper looked at the social dimension of the economic crisis of Zimbabwe during the inflationary period and the period after the introduction of multicurrency, inflation being the proxy for economic crisis. A descriptive survey was conducted with 194 adults (economically minded) to document the experiences of Zimbabweans during the hyperinflationary period and after, as lessons from Zimbabwe. The results were statistically analysed and interpreted. The findings of the study suggested that Zimbabwe can still achieve the Millennium Developmental Goals. The research encourages committed citizen attitude and behaviour and recommends that industry resilience is necessary during a crisis and that government support is continuously needed through corrective policy measures.