Government intensifies engagement blitz with diaspora community

ZIMBABWEANS in the diaspora are eager to invest in several key sectors of the economy but are appealing for an enhanced conducive investment environment and simplified investment procedures, Foreign Affairs and International Trade director for diaspora bilateral trade, Mrs Siyenzeni Matera has said.

Mrs Matera said the ministry has intensified its engagement blitz with the diaspora community with a view of gathering information on what areas they want to invest in, explaining investment avenues and hearing about challenges they face.

Government thinks that the Diaspora community can be leveraged to boost financial investment into the country, as well as increase trade and technology, including skills transfer.

In the first six months of the year, official statistics show that diaspora remittances reached US$797 million representing a 23 percent increase from the corresponding period last year.

An estimated 3 million Zimbabweans are believed to be in the diaspora and they regularly send money back home to sustain their families.

In an interview with Business Chronicle on the sidelines of the recently held Sanganai/ Hlanganani World tourism expo in Bulawayo last week, Mrs Matera said in engagements with the diaspora, there is keen interest in investing in tourism, mining and higher education sectors.

She said the diaspora community has indicated that they want to be treated as a special interest group to ease their investment drive.

However, the investment body, the Zimbabwe Investment Development Agency (Zida) has no such provision at the moment, she said.

“In 2016, the Government unveiled a diaspora policy, a launch pad to engage with Zimbabweans abroad as we have huge numbers there. Between 2016 and 2018 not much was done but with the New Dispensation, we want to engage with the diaspora and rebuild the economy.

“We have started reaching out to the diaspora, in the process seeking to understand their needs and challenges faced in investing back home. We have done outreach programmes in the United Kingdom, Australia and other European countries,” she said.

“In our engagements, they identified areas they want to invest in such as tourism, mining, and higher and tertiary education and they want land. One of the key issues they are raising is that when they approach the Zimbabwe Investment Development Authority (ZIDA), they indicate that they want to be treated as a special case and Zida to create a conducive environment for them to invest.

“However, Zida on the other hand says they are Zimbabweans and should be treated in the same manner as those at home as there is no policy for that. But they (Zida) are willing to engage on that”

She said most diasporans have been cheated out of their money either by relatives or friends and they want safe avenues to channel investment funds.

“As a directorate of diaspora engagement, we will continue engaging Zida to find a common ground. Recently, I was in Australia on a diaspora engagement and we have prepared a report for consideration” she added.

Economic analysts have urged the Government to craft policies that attract Zimbabweans in the diaspora to channel their financial resources beyond domestic consumption as they have a key role in transforming the economy.

For instance, countries such as China and India offer different business-oriented incentive models that enlist diaspora contributions to the development and such nations have succeeded in becoming among the leading world economies without reliance on foreign direct investment only.

Zimbabweans in the diaspora stand a chance to participate in different economic sectors as well as investing in capital markets, venture capital funds and pension funds and various bonds by the Government or the private players.

The country has a strong skilled and unskilled diaspora population largely in South Africa, the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada.-chronicle.cl.zw