Zimbabwe is teeming with “Billionaires”. Now, due to their ever-growing rate of inflation, the country has been producing a new class of “Trillionaires”, a word so rare that digital dictionaries have not yet been updated to actually recognize it.
While their currency has little value, the zeroes on their national bills managed to hit the 100 trillion mark in 2008, forcing the country to adopt the US Dollar as another means of exchange in 2009. This was a move by the International Monetary Foundation (IMF) aimed at stabilizing Zimbabwe’s economy while trying to control inflation at the same time.
Despite these efforts, something as simple as paying the country’s civil servants has left the country with USD 217 (KES 19,000). According to a report from NBC, Zimbabwe’s wage bill for civil servants accounts for 73% of the national budget.
Things are so bad that Zimbabwe Finance Minister, Tendai Biti said that government finances are in a state of paralysis and the country will need funding just to stay afloat.
But how does their economy compare to Kenya’s? Just how different are these two African countries?
Below is a table comparing the two countries in terms of finance:
| Kenya | Zimbabwe | |
| Money in the Bank (Public Accounts) | KES 715 Billion | KES 19,000 |
| GDP | USD 34 billion (KES 2.98 Trillion) | USD 10 billion (KES 877 billion) |
| Inflation Rate | 3.2% (December of 2012) | 2.9% (December 2012) |
| Population Living Below the Poverty Line | 50% | 68% |
| Labour Force | 44.2% of the population | 30.2% of the population |
| Unemployment Rate (Formal Employment) | 40% | 95% |
| Poverty | Ranked 14th in the world | Ranked 25th in the world |
| Economic Freedom | Ranked 89th in the world | Ranked 175th in the world |
| Technological Achievement | Ranked 64th in the world | Ranked 54th in the world |
*Numbers are based on data from Trading Economics and the Mars Group. Note that these figures are subject to change.