Invisible–Visible Borders Between Zambia and Zimbabwe Along the Zambezi Valley: Tonga Fishermen, Cross-Border Livelihoods and Monetary Practices

This chapter is based on ethnographic work examining monetary practices of the unbanked poor in Binga District, Matabeleland North Province of Zimbabwe, which stretches along the Zambezi valley (formally known as the Gwambe Valley during the mid- to late-nineteenth-century Ndebele reign). It aims to understand how the unbanked innovate for themselves to deal with the challenges posed by the cash shortage experienced in Zimbabwe and how this can inform future monetary innovations. This is significant because the fieldwork site forms the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe. Binga District shares borders with Zambia’s Southern Province district of Sinazongwe. The two regions have a free travel and trade agreement which provides an interesting cross-border monetary dimension from shared socioeconomic practices between Zimbabweans and Zambians. The two countries’ coordinated trade and immigration policies effectively made invisible the national boundary visibly marked by the mighty Zambezi River. This has gone a long way in correcting the historical injustice which cruelly divided a homogeneous community into two. After the fluid national boundary initiative, the border citizens from both countries have been left to their own devices, to battle with a harsh agro-ecological environment and sparse private and public infrastructure. Through this neglect, an opportunity to incorporate their agency into policy coordination has been lost, particularly in relation to information and communication technology (ICT) monetary innovations, foreign exchange control and environmental conservation.