BULAWAYO - Zimbabwes economy may not have been in the best shape for the past decade, but it has been fertile ground for scholars both in and outside the country. It has presented new topics that have never been explored before and academic papers are beginning to surface in neighbouring South African.Since the meltdown began in 2000, the Zimbabwean crisis proved to be an area of scholarly enquiry, with researchers exploring the many facets of the countrys economic collapse.
University of Zimbabwe (UZ) student, Miriam Ncube, a post-graduate student, focused her research on the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ). There have been reports that at the height of quasi fiscal operations at the RBZ only a select few journalists were given an opportunity to access information. They were also allegedly paid to gloss up the activities of the central banks.
Former National University of Science and Technology (NUST) student, Lucky Chuma, focused on how the unemployed youths had turned to the informal sector to eke out a living. He focused particularly on the sale of mobile phone top up cards.
Other topics include how political parties used cell phones to campaign during the 2008 presidential elections, the violent attempts made by Zanu (PF) militia to win the rural vote and how Zimbabwe survived for six months without a government.
“There are so many areas that we as students could have focused on for our research projects. Its been quite interesting from an academic point of view,” said Mluleki Nkala, a former student of NUST.
Post published in: News