The Committee stage of the RE-DENOMINATION OF CURRENCY BILL, 2012 (N.A.B. 8 of 2012) went through Committee Stage yesterday and will have Third Reading today 21st Nov. 2012.
So we can safely say, we have the ngwee to our Kwacha. Kwacha economics has taken another mile stone of maintaining the Ngwee part of it. As far as things look today, we have the ngwee coins in our pockets by 1st January, 2013.
What I like about this whole process is how much economic activity is expected as a result of rebasing. We are being given an opportunity to use the coin in various ways. The simple one coming to mind is the vending machines (typically, we could have been using the 'notes' only type), but I think the coin idea makes people feel comfortable and at ease on a vending machine than notes. But more so as a parking attendant.
What people excited about these prospects highlighted about forget is the economics of just that idea of vending machines - they cause unemployment! Why would a shop owner employ one more person to help with snacks and pay him minimum wage when he can plant a vending machine in the shop and attend to those customers doing other things not snacks? This point is unfortunately the evils of development. We reach a stage we do away with labour intensive Technics and employ machines. I actually think, it would be better to have machines in that way than shop attendants who bring inefficiency to getting a cold drink.
We have to guard against bad outcomes of this rebasing though. Many of our uninformed people will be cheated out of their hard earned kwacha through street "crook-dom". So education (not sensitization which is a word wrongly used in Zambia) has to be intense and to the point. People should know that the value of the kwacha is not touched. Just the face - make up so to say. Good make-up in this case.
So we need to prepare for the new notes and new activities in our economy. The Kwacha has taken a new face and new clothes.
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