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ZIMBABWEAN international financial expert, Professor Mthuli Ncube says the Diaspora community should contribute to national development as they are the source of new skills and investment required to turn around the economy.Estimates indicate that more than three million Zimbabweans, who include skilled professionals and acclaimed businesspersons, live outside the country where they hold influential positions in big corporates and public entities of host countries.
“The Diaspora could be a source of new skills required by the economy, a source of investment through Diaspora bonds,” said Prof Ncube in an interview.
He commended the government for spearheading the value addition and beneficiation thrust — a key element in the national economic blueprint — the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation (Zim-Asset).
“Beneficiation is a welcome objective so as to maximise value. There are other opportunities from cluster businesses linked to mining. For example, manufacturing of mining materials like helmets, overalls, heavy boots, etc,” Prof Ncube added.
“Mining in Zimbabwe also requires the creation of indigenous mining houses with international visibility. This is the only way to raise big capital.”
Prof Ncube, who grew up in Bulawayo, is the chief economist with the African Development Bank.
He holds a PhD in Mathematical Finance from Cambridge University in the United Kingdom. His thesis was on “pricing options under stochastic volatility”.
As chief economist, he oversees the economics complex, which is focused on the process of knowledge management within the bank and with its partners, and general economic strategic direction of the bank.
The government has stressed the need to harness Diaspora resources with the central bank indicating the group was contributing close to $2 billion annually in remittances.
“This sector is too important to ignore. To this end, the government and the Reserve Bank are putting in place measures to promote investment from the Diasporans, over and above remittances. Through Homelink’s newly set up business unit, Investlink, the Reserve Bank is spearheading investments needs of the Diasporans through integration with economic activities in the country,” Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor John Mangudya said in his monetary policy statement early this year.
He said the Diasporans will syndicate, form consortiums and pool resources for investment in sectors like energy solutions through mini-hydro power projects, tourism, agriculture, various manufacturing subsectors and trading on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE).
The prevalence of high interest rates obtaining in the country presents yet another opportunity for the Diasporans to invest in their country and obtain investments rates higher than in their countries of temporary residence, said Mangudya.
A number of African countries such as Ethiopia, Rwanda, Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt to mention a few, have immensely benefited from Diaspora resources just like other countries like India, China and Israel
Online Reporter
Londile Moyo