Zimbabwe: Succumbing to the Debt Trap

Harare — When Davis Moyo* was retrenched from his job at a financial institution in the Zimbabwean capital Harare last year, he counted himself lucky when he found another job almost immediately, and even luckier when he secured a loan to start a chicken-rearing business that he hoped would supplement his salary.

His application for a US$4,000 loan to be repaid over 12 months was swiftly processed by one of the many banking institutions that had combed his workplace for new clients, and Moyo was soon presiding over his dream business. He envisaged providing employment to scores of the unemployed and, with a bit of luck and hard work, being able to quit his new job to run his business full-time within a few years.

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