Zim-Diaspora policy needed as soon as yesterday

Itai M. P Choto
President Mugabe recently made a call to all Zimbabweans across the political divide and specifically those in the Diaspora to play an active role in nation building. He was addressing Ethiopia-based Zimbabweans in Addis Ababa where he was attending the 18th comesa Summit. The call recognises that the country has a unique and important relationship with its children in the Diaspora that must be developed.

These remarks resonated well with many Zimbabweans across the globe, and have been the subject of much discussion within our communities, certainly in England, where I am currently based. To employ a perhaps cliché phrase, I could not agree with my President more. Nation building, reviving our economy requires a multilateral approach, it is a collective undertaking. Government working in partnership with private sector, civic society and the often unsung and even neglected ‘heroes and heroines’ who are often unrecognised and perhaps not accorded a formal platform to work with state actors, the Diasporas. Sometime ago Nick Mangwana wrote what I perceive to be a brilliant and pertinent piece aptly titled ‘We are in this together’ in which he made a rallying call to all Zimbabweans to come together and build the motherland. The remit of serving the nation is not solely a government one, mine alone or yours alone, it is ours. You and I working together, playing our part in the economic renaissance already in motion will be able to help usher in economic emancipation for generational posterity.

The performance and indeed mal-performance of the country’s economy has dominated much of the first quarter of the year if the chatter among Zimbabweans is anything to go by. The country’s economy has been a victim to a vicious depression for much of the first part of 2015, it has struggled to weave itself out of the claws of the illegal sanctions, plummeting business confidence, a serious liquidity crunch, falling industry competitiveness, a high import bill and a widening current account deficit.

With the inclusive government, elections and a new supreme law in place, we should all focus on engineering an economic revival and follow an inclusive trajectory that involves the Diaspora community, tapping into the abundant human and financial resources, under policy arrangements that are constructive and progressive. Zimbabweans in the Diaspora have remitted US$1,4 billion in the past two years and the figure could be higher if non-formal remittances are included. Statistics from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe indicate that in 2012, total remittances, including those of industrial organisations, amounted to US$2,1 billion, while in 2013 remittances totalled US$1,8 billion.

The amount could be higher given that a substantial amount of Diaspora remittances continue to be transmitted through informal channels. Against this backdrop it’s high time our Government established at the very least, a specific Diaspora engagement policy and perhaps a desk within a ministry which will work with our worldwide consular services.

I recall in his 2014 Budget Statement, Finance Minister Cde Patrick Chinamasa saying most countries in the world, including Zimbabwe’s regional neighbours, were benefiting immensely from financial transfers by their nationals in the Diaspora. He said there were plans by the Government to introduce a Diaspora bond to tap into the market. Let’s turn the minister’s vision into reality.

Government’s role should be to drive and foster Diaspora engagement in a way that supports: those who have left Zimbabwe and need or want support; facilitates a wide range of activity at local, national and international level designed to build on and develop two-way Diaspora engagement.

Policymakers in the Asia-Pacific region increasingly recognise the value that Diaspora populations bring to development efforts at home. Some governments in the region have taken an extra step in institutionalising their engagement with the Diaspora by creating special offices or directorates within government agencies. Within Asia, 14 government institutions were created specifically to engage the Diaspora on a formal basis, occupying different levels of government and exhibiting diverse priorities and degrees of organisation.

Countries like India have established ministries to address the needs of Diaspora populations. The Ministry was formed in 2004 to address the lack of government policy coordination on migration and to implement programmes that reach out to the Indian Diaspora. Bangladesh and Sri Lanka also have established ministries to engage their Diasporas. Ethiopia and now recently Kenya have specific Diaspora policies and programmes, so why not Zimbabwe?

As much as states are forming and transforming Diasporas, Diasporas are also reshaping states. The ‘Diaspora engagement policy’ will be employed as a primary channel through which our nation interacts with ‘its’ Diasporas. Such a policy will take a wide range of formal and informal manifestations, from symbolic and rhetorical appeals to the loyalty of emigrants and their descendants, to measures aimed at capturing and channelling a share of the migrant remittances that now dwarf global development aid, to formal governmental institutions that harmonise and oversee the myriad ways in which our state impact on, and is impacted by, Diasporas. The Diaspora Policy should also put in place a range of initiatives that will improve how Government connects with the Zimbabwean community abroad and should promote opportunities for those who wish to go back.

This project will chant new frontiers for the Diaspora, with the aim of creating a platform for interaction, networking and investment opportunities amongst the Diaspora and other stakeholders in order to deepen Diaspora integration into national development. As the country goes through economic transformation, the beneficial impact of the Diaspora on domestic demand, trade, tourism, job creation and inclusive growth, need to be carefully harnessed for greater national development. Our nation should design an effective policy and implement it on a meaningful scale. This means there should be little or no gap between the outlook of the policy on paper and a truly effective policy and programme that actually makes a difference. Indeed, effective engagement will require a concerted effort towards capacity building.

The relationship with the Diaspora is about much more than welfare. This size of our Diaspora gives us a reach and a voice throughout the world. We should now draw up their experience and expertise in overcoming our recent economic difficulties and getting this country back on its feet and creating jobs. We must also ensure that the relationship with the diaspora remains a dynamic one that can evolve to meet changing circumstances.

As we strengthen our economic recovery we should continue to collectively ensure that Zimbabwe’s future is secured for all of our people. A country is at its best when the bonds between people are strong and when the sense of national purpose is clear. Today the challenges facing Zimbabwe are immense.

Our economy is sailing through turbulent waters. But these problems can be overcome if we pull together and work together. If we remember that we are all in this together.

Over to you Cde President . . .