Online Reporter
Oliver Kazunga
Senior Reporter
ZIMBABWE is moving to reclaim its global skills capital as Government launches an ambitious programme to bring home expertise from the Diaspora and ensure the emerging industries are driven by Zimbabweans rather than foreign expatriates.
The initiative comes amid the country’s economic transformation agenda, with new opportunities set to open in emerging sectors such as petroleum and lithium-ion battery manufacturing, among others, that have limited local skills capacity.
Responding to questions from this publication after the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Government and the Zimbabwe Diaspora Nation Building Initiative (ZDNBI) in Harare yesterday, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Skills Audit and Development Ambassador Rudo Chitiga said the diaspora has the much-needed
“The role of the Ministry (Skills Audit and Development) is now to quickly find Zimbabweans in the Diaspora who have those skills and say, ‘How can you support our work?’
“We have recently banned the export of raw minerals. And now we are talking about producing batteries (lithium-ion). Do we have skills locally? We don’t – but we have Zimbabweans in the Diaspora with those skills.”
Amb Chitiga noted that without deliberate interventions, Zimbabwe’s industrialisation agenda risked becoming dependent on imported expertise.
“All this industrialisation may be expatriate-driven rather than Zimbabwean-driven. We want it to be Zimbabwean-driven,” she said, adding that more than three million Zimbabweans with skills in different economic sectors were based in the Diaspora.
At the signing ceremony, she said her ministry was conducting skills audits across sectors to determine the expertise required by industry and identify Zimbabweans in the Diaspora capable of filling those gaps.
The Government’s strategy seeks not only to attract skilled Zimbabweans back home, but to leverage their expertise to train locals and build a sustainable pool of talent.
ZDNBI chief executive Dr Paul Matsvai said through their MoU with the Government, his organisation marked a significant step towards contributing to harnessing the expertise of millions of Zimbabweans living and working abroad.
There are scores of ex-diasporans that have either come back home to retire or have become tired of staying in foreign lands. These people still have the energy to assist in the development of skills for the country. If these are added to the skills sets already existing through local retirees and pensioners that plenty within the country, surely Zimbabwe should not suffer from skills shortages. Somewhere in the administrative system there is either lack of knowledge or reluctance to harness these skills.