Zimbabwe Doctors Get By With Help From a Billionaire

HARARE (Capital Markets in Africa) – Zimbabwean state doctors have found an unlikely ally in their four-month pay strike — telecommunications tycoon Strive Masiyiwa.

The founder and majority owner of Econet Wireless Zimbabwe Ltd. have offered to pay them a Z$5,000-Z$10,000 ($290-$580) subsidy, based on seniority, for the next six months in a bid to end the strike that started in September and has crippled the southern African nation’s public health-care system.

State doctors currently receive the equivalent of $200 a month and are demanding that salaries be adjusted in line with inflation, which stood at an annual rate of 500%. The monthly rate fell to 16.6% in December and the national statistics agency stopped publishing annual data when it reached 176% in August.

The proposed payment will be made by the Higher life Foundation, the charitable organization set up by Masiyiwa and his wife Tsitsi in 1996, according to Tawanda Zvakada, the acting secretary-general of the Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association.

The ZHDA represents about 600 members working at 1,600 government-run hospitals and clinics nationwide and “more and more doctors are now expected to return to work,” Zvakada said by phone Thursday.

“The doctors have responded extremely positively,” Masiyiwa said in a response to questions. “We also provide free transport to nurses.”

So far about 500 doctors have applied for the assistance and he expects that to double tomorrow, Masiyiwa said.

Besides Econet, Masiyiwa — whose wealth is estimated at $1.1 billion by Forbes — also owns about half of private company Liquid Telecommunications Ltd., which provides fiber optic and satellite services across Africa. His other assets include stakes in mobile phone networks in Burundi and Lesotho and investments in fintech and power distribution firms in Africa.

Zimbabwe’s economy is collapsing. The government can’t afford adequate imports of fuel, power, and corn.

Source: Bloomberg Business News