SW Radio Africa (London)
Violet Gonda
1 September 2008
One of the oldest credit card and travellers cheques companies American Express has ceased operations in Zimbabwe effective 1st September. The company which issues travellers cheques to international travellers said it was suspending its operations in Zimbabwe because of lack of business.
The news will deal a huge blow to Zimbabweans already suffering hardships especially the cross border traders who flock to neighbouring countries to make ends meet. This will also have an adverse effect on overseas travellers who rely on the travellers' cheques as there are restrictions on the amount of cash people can carry when leaving Zimbabwe.
Meanwhile the Standard newspaper reported American Express had stopped operations to comply with the regulations under the sanctions imposed by Western countries on Zimbabwe.
Economist Tony Hawkins also wrote: "This is the first sanction to affect Zimbabweans as a whole rather than targeted individuals and organisations. Affected banks will now have to issue cheques from other providers of the service."
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 SW Radio Africa. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
