Sub Saharan Africa

• Travel Summary
• Safety and security
• Local laws and customs
• Entry requirements

• Health
• General
 

General

Insurance

We recommend that you obtain comprehensive travel and medical insurance before travelling.  Your policy should include cover for medical evacuation by air ambulance and cover for any adventure sports you may participate in. You should check any exclusions, and that your policy covers you for all the activities you want to undertake.  For more general information see Travel Insurance.

If things do go wrong when you are oversees then this is How We Can Help.

Living in, or travelling to, Zimbabwe

Register with our LOCATE service to tell us when and where you are travelling abroad or where you live abroad so our consular and crisis staff can provide better assistance to you in an emergency.  More information about registering with LOCATE can be found here.

If you live in or travel to Zimbabwe we advise you to:

• Register with the British Embassy in Harare.  This can be done on-line at UK in Zimbabwe (click on 'services' at the top left and then 'on-line registration').
• Check this travel advice regularly and subscribe to automatic updates at subscribe.
• Ensure that your travel documents are readily available.  Ensure that your passport and Zimbabwe immigration and residency permissions are up to date.  Your passport should have at least six months validity and three blank pages left in it.  Failure to do so could impede your exit.
• Ensure you have your own contingency plan for how you would leave at short notice and regularly review its viability in the light of changing circumstances.
  
• Ensure that you are content with your own and your family's security arrangements and keep yourself up to date with developments, and have sufficient supplies to sustain you and your family if you are unable to leave the house for several days.
  

Economic effects

Economic decline has led to deterioration in the provision of basic services.  There are frequent and prolonged power cuts that affect the whole country, sometimes for days at a time, as well as fuel and water shortages. The Zimbabwean mobile phone network is near collapse and land lines are unreliable. Some business people have been targeted for arrest for economic gain.

EU arms embargo

There is an EU arms embargo on Zimbabwe.  It is an offence in UK law to take firearms into Zimbabwe at the current time, even if you intend to bring them back to the UK at the end of your visit. 

Money

The Zimbabwean dollar has been suspended indefinitely.  The most widely used currencies are the US dollar and the South African rand. It is inadvisable to carry large amounts of cash.  However, credit and debit cards are not widely accepted and it is not possible to withdraw cash from ATMs.  It is illegal to exchange foreign currency in Zimbabwe anywhere other than at officially licensed dealers (e.g. banks), who may not have sufficient currency to accommodate your request.  It is advisable to have small denomination notes, as change is rarely available.