One outfitter on this forum had I think $15,000 held in domestic Zim bank accounts to pay for their concession fees, petrol, and for animal quota. The first time I think the banks just seized the money and converted it to Zim Bonds. The second, they took it all in US cash stating that if you don't use the money within 30 days of it being in a bank, it is seized.
All the fees of the government, permits, game scouts, taxes, quota, concession fees, access fees....all must be done in US dollars. However, the operator is effectively prohibited from having US dollars?!
Getting blood from a turnip.
Last year, quota was payable in Bond so you could obtain bond and pay your bills that way. This year, its all in foreign US dollars, but the client cannot be obligated to pay all these incidentals themselves because you can't get the money over there. If you do get it to your operator over there, they may have it seized before they can settle the obligations to conduct a safari! The PH and the Operators are usually very good people, so they take money out of their savings to "honor" their debts even though its not their fault and they can't afford to give away their own savings to make good on the hunts. It's a mess I tell you. I have a lot of empathy for the PHs and operators that are perpetually being shafted under near impossible conditions to conduct business.
The latest I hear is that Zim intends to RAISE quota fees for 2020. So amidst all the shortages, the possible famine, the water crisis, the electricity crisis, and the import bans to USA and UK, with demand significantly down and much quota unsold....they are going to raise prices.
It's like a failing car company that can't sell $20,000 trucks. The solution would be to sell them for $200,000 instead to have a higher profit? The folks at the top do not even understand 4th-grade supply-demand or 9th grade "Laffer Curve" fundamentals. If you're poor, just charge more? Yikes.