ZIMBABWE'S MONEY CHANGERS

People think money-changing is a lawless business, but it actually has a lot of unofficial rules.

We make our money from commission. There's a lot of competition and everyone wants to get a good deal.

Fifth Street is one of our main areas - it's more than a kilometre long. People come from all over come to see us - there's a big demand. Just on this street, there could be up to $1m between all of us.

Social media has been effective in helping us establish our own community. We've created groups on WhatsApp and Facebook where we know what the official rates for different currencies are then we work out what rates we are going to use on that day.

The police give us problems. They sometimes come and tell us what we're doing is not allowed, and they threaten to shut us down. But everyone has a price in Zimbabwe and you can buy your way out trouble.

The reality is that everyone is desperate for money, even the police and we are able to help with that.

In a good month I can make up to $400 extra money [on top of my sales job]. One of the reasons we are here is the bond notes. After the economy crashed many people here don't trust the banks.

Some of our clients are high-profile people, they come in their big cars and we do the deals inside the cars, worth thousands of dollars.

To read the complete article, see:
Zimbabwe election: Hustling for cash to survive (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-44971474)

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