When the Zimbabwean
government ordered internet service providers to shutter parts of the web in an
effort to curb anti-government protests, it also plunged homes into darkness
because people can’t pay their utilities online.
Most people in the
southern African nation use Econet Wireless Zimbabwe's Ecocash mobile-phone
payment system for daily transactions.
They buy electricity
in units of $5 or less and almost all domestic users are on prepaid meters, so
many buy for $1 at a time.
According to
Zimbabwe’s Finance Ministry, less than 5% of commercial transactions in the
country involve cash, mainly because it’s hard to find. Instead Zimbabweans use
Ecocash or bank cards.
"Tonight will be
spent in darkness," said 42-year-old John Pedzesai, who sells plants on a
sidewalk in the capital, Harare.
Econet, Zimbabwe’s
biggest mobile-phone company, declined to comment.