More than half of the adult population in Zimbabwe earn less than $100 per month as economic challenges persist in the country, a survey has shown.
BY VICTORIA MTOMBA
The Finscope Consumer Survey Zimbabwe 2014 shows that access to social services such as water decreased in 2014 to 29% from 35% in 2011.
Improvements have however been noted on the education front where the percentage of those with no education decreased to 3% from 7%.
“On the other hand, 44% of the population had to skip a meal because of lack of money for food in 2014 compared to 29% in 2011. There has also been an increase in those unable to attend school due to lack of fees from 25% to 36% in 2014.The study shows that 65% of the adult population earn $100 or less per month,” the survey also showed.
Financial inclusion in Zimbabwe rose to 77% in 2014 from 60% in 2011, the study revealed.
It showed that banks were the main drivers of transactional and credit products although banking costs remained a barrier to banking.
“Banking infrastructure is inaccessible to those in rural areas where 70% of the population live. As expected, financial inclusion is relatively higher in rural areas due to the limited access to banking infrastructure and limited employment opportunities,” the survey revealed.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
The number of the banked population increased to 30% or 2,08 million people from 24% registered in 2011.
“Banking in Zimbabwe is largely driven by the use of transactional products. A high percentage of the population (70%) is not banked with the majority of those indicating that they do not need a bank account (74%),” the survey said.
“Other reasons cited by individuals for not having a bank account are that they cannot afford to maintain a minimum balance required; bank charges are too high and many receive income in the form of cash and therefore have an insufficient balance for a bank account.”
The survey results further stated: “Only 30% of the population are banked — of those who do have a bank account, 67% regarded safety as the main reason for banking while 39% used bank accounts as a means to either deposit or receive money from an employer. Further, 20% of those who are banked believed that it was an easy way to obtain loans.”
The survey also showed that 53% of Zimbabweans do not save, the reason being that they were left with nothing after covering living expenses. The survey was a follow up to another conducted in 2011 and it provided a benchmark for repeat surveys in order to enable the assessment of the impact of access related policy initiatives.
The FinScope Survey — developed by FinMark Trust — is a research tool to assess financial access in a country and to identify the constraints that prevent financial service providers from reaching the financially under- and unserved people. The FinScope Survey is a nationally representative survey of how adult individuals source their incomes and how they manage them.
The study was based on a nationally representative sample of adults who are 18 years or older.
A total of 4 000 face-to-face interviews were conducted by Research Continental-Fonkom while Africa Corporate Advisors were the local project coordinator. The sample is representative at national, urban/rural, and provincial levels.