🧵 Black Friday — The Day Zimbabwe’s Economy Fell Off a Cliff
14 Nov 1997.
Morning: Harare’s currency dealers are shouting over each other, the phones won’t stop ringing, and prices on the board are spinning out of control.
By nightfall, the Zimbabwean dollar had lost 71% of its value. The stock market was gutted. Ordinary Zimbabweans woke poorer than they’d ever been.
This wasn’t “market forces.” It was political arson.
14 Nov 1997.
Morning: Harare’s currency dealers are shouting over each other, the phones won’t stop ringing, and prices on the board are spinning out of control.
By nightfall, the Zimbabwean dollar had lost 71% of its value. The stock market was gutted. Ordinary Zimbabweans woke poorer than they’d ever been.
This wasn’t “market forces.” It was political arson.
1/
By the mid-90s, Zimbabwe’s economy was slowing: falling exports, rising debt, and an increasingly restless population.
The loudest anger came from war veterans — ex-guerrillas abandoned after 1980 while ZANU-PF’s ruling elite gorged themselves on state contracts, farms, and foreign trips.
"We liberated this country. We will not die poor," warned one vet leader. Translation: pay us, or face chaos.
By the mid-90s, Zimbabwe’s economy was slowing: falling exports, rising debt, and an increasingly restless population.
The loudest anger came from war veterans — ex-guerrillas abandoned after 1980 while ZANU-PF’s ruling elite gorged themselves on state contracts, farms, and foreign trips.
"We liberated this country. We will not die poor," warned one vet leader. Translation: pay us, or face chaos.
2/
Led by Dr. Chenjerai “Hitler” Hunzvi, the vets didn’t just protest — they threatened the state with the same violence that had brought it to power.
IMF economists warned the Treasury couldn’t take the strain. But in ZANU-PF logic, fiscal discipline was for losers; political survival was the only currency that mattered.
Led by Dr. Chenjerai “Hitler” Hunzvi, the vets didn’t just protest — they threatened the state with the same violence that had brought it to power.
IMF economists warned the Treasury couldn’t take the strain. But in ZANU-PF logic, fiscal discipline was for losers; political survival was the only currency that mattered.
3/
On 14 Nov, Mugabe folded completely:
• Z$50,000 lump sum (~US$4,300 then)
• Z$2,000 monthly pensions
• Free health care & other perks
Bill: Z$4.2 billion — ~3% of GDP — no funding plan, no strategy.
"We cannot ignore the plight of our liberators," he said. True — but he could ignore the plight of every other Zimbabwean.
On 14 Nov, Mugabe folded completely:
• Z$50,000 lump sum (~US$4,300 then)
• Z$2,000 monthly pensions
• Free health care & other perks
Bill: Z$4.2 billion — ~3% of GDP — no funding plan, no strategy.
"We cannot ignore the plight of our liberators," he said. True — but he could ignore the plight of every other Zimbabwean.
4/
Markets reacted like they’d been slapped.
By mid-morning, the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange was in freefall — down 46% in one day.
The Zim dollar plunged from Z$10 to Z$17 per US$ in hours.
"It was like watching a dam burst," said one broker. It wasn’t just a dam — it was the last wall of economic credibility collapsing.
Markets reacted like they’d been slapped.
By mid-morning, the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange was in freefall — down 46% in one day.
The Zim dollar plunged from Z$10 to Z$17 per US$ in hours.
"It was like watching a dam burst," said one broker. It wasn’t just a dam — it was the last wall of economic credibility collapsing.
5/
Shops stopped pricing goods. Importers froze orders. Businesses hoarded forex like gold in a burning house.
The Reserve Bank’s foreign reserves — already pitiful — bled out.
The IMF suspended support. Zimbabwe was on its own, not as an act of sovereignty, but as a self-inflicted exile from global finance.
Shops stopped pricing goods. Importers froze orders. Businesses hoarded forex like gold in a burning house.
The Reserve Bank’s foreign reserves — already pitiful — bled out.
The IMF suspended support. Zimbabwe was on its own, not as an act of sovereignty, but as a self-inflicted exile from global finance.
6/
For the middle class, Black Friday was the point of no return.
"Yesterday my savings could buy a car. Today, only half a car," a Harare teacher told the press.
The unspoken truth: the regime had traded their life savings for a few months of political peace with a dangerous constituency. The middle class was expendable.
For the middle class, Black Friday was the point of no return.
"Yesterday my savings could buy a car. Today, only half a car," a Harare teacher told the press.
The unspoken truth: the regime had traded their life savings for a few months of political peace with a dangerous constituency. The middle class was expendable.
7/
Black Friday didn’t create the collapse — it pulled the trigger.
Within 3 years, Mugabe turned to war vets again, this time unleashing them on white farms.
Exports vanished, capital fled, and Zimbabwe sank into hyperinflation. It wasn’t “policy” — it was gangsterism dressed in revolutionary rhetoric.
Black Friday didn’t create the collapse — it pulled the trigger.
Within 3 years, Mugabe turned to war vets again, this time unleashing them on white farms.
Exports vanished, capital fled, and Zimbabwe sank into hyperinflation. It wasn’t “policy” — it was gangsterism dressed in revolutionary rhetoric.
8/
14 Nov 1997 was more than an economic disaster — it was a public confession.
ZANU-PF declared: we will bankrupt the state to buy loyalty; we will burn your savings to keep our thrones; we will destroy the economy rather than lose power.
It was the day the mask slipped — and the rot was there for the whole world to see.
14 Nov 1997 was more than an economic disaster — it was a public confession.
ZANU-PF declared: we will bankrupt the state to buy loyalty; we will burn your savings to keep our thrones; we will destroy the economy rather than lose power.
It was the day the mask slipped — and the rot was there for the whole world to see.
9/
📚 Sources:
• IMF Country Reports 1997–1998
• Financial Gazette
• BBC News interview 1997
📚 Sources:
• IMF Country Reports 1997–1998
• Financial Gazette
• BBC News interview 1997
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