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The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe directed all mobile money service providers to cross over to Zimswitch Technologies as their national payments switch by August 15. It remains to be seen whether Econet, which enjoys a lion's share of the mobile money market and is locked in endless tussles with the authorities, will abide by the directive or challenge it in court. https://www.rbz.co.zw/documents/press/July/00100_-Press-Statement---Zimswitch-Designation-as-National-Switch---9-7-2020-2.pdf

USSD also has its limitations. The customer experience is not as smooth nor does it offer the same security capabilities as STK or mobile internet. Further, USSD sessions can be dropped, potentially raising costs and harming customer trust. Despite these and other challenges, the majority of leading MFS providers rely on USSD, including many MNOs. Large deployments that rely primarily on USSD include bKash in Bangladesh, WING in Cambodia, EasyPaisa in Pakistan, ZAAD in Somaliland, M-PESA and Tigo in Tanzania, and EcoCash in Zimbabwe.

The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe reportedly decided to issue central bank digital currency (CBDC). The central bank is currently still at the research stage, and will be moving to the design stage shortly, although they have yet to decide whether it would be retail or wholesale.

The IMF published a blog on African countries' approaches to regulating crypto-assets, finding that only one-quarter of countries in sub-Saharan Africa formally regulate crypto. However, two-thirds have implemented some restrictions and six countries-Cameroon, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, and the Republic of Congo-have banned crypto. Zimbabwe has ordered all banks to stop processing transactions and Liberia directed a local crypto startup to cease operations (implicit bans). The blog also warned that public finances could be put at risk if crypto-assets are adopted as legal tender, as the Central African Republic recently did.

"The [Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe's (RBZ's)] CBDC Project continued to progress steadily in line with the envisaged CBDC Road Map. In this regard, in November 2022, the Bank rolled out a consumer survey that intends to solicit opinions on the design and nature of the CBDC and its overall acceptance/acceptability by stakeholders. As at January 23, 2023, the survey had received 2,286 responses."