Gideon Gono
| Gideon Gono | |
|---|---|
Gono after speaking to Parliament in 2008
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| 4th Governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe | |
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In office 1 December 2003 – 30 November 2013 |
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| President | Robert Mugabe |
| Preceded by | Leonard Tsumba |
| Succeeded by | Charity Dhliwayo |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
29 November 1959 Rhodesia and Nyasaland |
| Spouse(s) | Helen Gono |
| Residence | Harare, Zimbabwe |
| Alma mater | University of Zimbabwe |
| Profession | Banker |
| Religion | Christian |
Gideon Gono (born 29 November 1959) was the Governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) from 2003 to 2013 and is the former CEO of the Jewel Bank, formerly known as the Commercial Bank of Zimbabwe.
Gono became known internationally due to his connection to the Hyperinflation in Zimbabwe.
Gono started his career as a tea boy at National Breweries in Que Que in 1977. He put himself through various correspondence courses from O-Level through A-Level and moved on to the Zimbabwe Fertiliser Company as a Bookkeeper. After working at Van Leer as an accountant, he was appointed finance manager at the Zimbabwe Development Bank (ZDB) in 1987. When he left the Zimbabwe Development Bank in 1995, he had risen to the post of general manager.
He went on to become managing director of the Bank of Credit and Commerce of Zimbabwe (BCCZ). Under his direction, BCCZ became The Commercial Bank of Zimbabwe, or 'Jewel Bank'. He was then appointed as governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.
He obtained a Masters in Business Administration at the University of Zimbabwe and went on to lecture there, and was also appointed to head the University of Zimbabwe Council. He was awarded an honorary degree at the same institution.
Gono was first appointed as governor of the Reserve Bank in November 2003. In November 2008, Gono was reappointed to a new five-year term as governor, beginning on 1 December 2008. Gono stepped down on 30 November 2013 after a 10-year term at the helm of the Reserve Bank.
After taking over the governorship of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, Gono implemented a host of highly criticized policies in a bid to try to keep the Zimbabwe afloat. There were a host of problems before he became governor, hence the appointment of a turnaround strategist but they seemed to be too much even for him to tackle and the decline of the economy continued:
The RBZ printed large quantities of money to keep the economy afloat against the backdrop of economic sanctions placed upon the Zimbabwe since 2000. This went against the advice of global economists, but with full support from President Robert Mugabe. As predicted by the textbook quantity theory of money, this practice devalued the Zimbabwean dollar and caused hyperinflation.
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