Zimbabwe's vice-president, retired Gen Constantino Chiwenga, on Wednesday issued a chilling warning to  businesses to stop increasing prices and sourcing foreign currency from the black market. Chiwenga, who headed the ousting of former president Robert Mugabe in 2017, accused businesses of  “financial terrorism” and threatened them with unspecified action.

The vice-president is well known for using heavy-handed tactics. In 2018 he issued a directive to fire all nurses in the country who  had gone on strike demanding higher wages. The move plunged Zimbabwe’s ailing health sector into crisis before it was reversed by President Emmerson Mnangagwa. Earlier on Wednesday the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI), the country’s largest manufacturers body, warned that industries were suffering amid worsening economic conditions...