African nations are increasingly turning to gold to hedge against geopolitical tensions that have battered their currencies and fanned inflation, Bloomberg reports.
Zimbabwe launched a bullion-backed currency to help curb an inflation spiral and exchange-rate volatility in April. Zimbabwe Gold, or ZiG, is backed by 2.5 tonnes of gold. It is the nation’s sixth attempt at having a functioning local currency in 15 years, replacing the Zimbabwean dollar that has lost 80% of its value against the US dollar in 2024.