THE Zimbabwe diaspora community’s voices continue to increase, challenging the Zimbabwean government under the leadership of President Emmerson Mnangagwa to seriously consider engaging the diaspora community in a way that benefits Zimbabwe and her people by moving away from rhetoric to meaningful action.
The diasporans want the government to seriously consider building meaningful relationships with the international community by using Zimbabweans as ambassadors than relying on Harare to perform those duties. The diaspora is calling on the government to consider issues like the diaspora vote, outreach programmes to attract philanthropy supported by clear guidelines on customs, clear messaging on issues related to trade and investments, acknowledge the brain drain of the last few years and embrace the diasporans as the fibre that connects and facilitates knowledge transfer by virtue of their experiences from abroad, among other things.
Background
Pursuant to a call received from the government of Zimbabwe for the diaspora community to input into the revision of the Zimbabwe diaspora policy which was adopted in 2016, the Zimbabwe Diasporan Nation Building Initiative (ZDNBI) has released a comprehensive report that presents views of the global diaspora on key elements that the diaspora would like to see incorporated into the revised Zimbabwe diaspora policy. This report has been shared with principal stakeholders including the government and is available on the ZDNBI website by clicking on this link: ZDNBI-REVIEW-REPORT-2022-FINAL-VERSION-Sept-2022-1.pdf
ZDNBI is a global Zimbabwean diaspora organisation that has as its principal remit the coalescing of the global Zimbabwean diaspora, thereby making it one of the principal conduits through which the diaspora interfaces with principal stakeholders in Zimbabwe to enhance and leverage the diasporans’ contribution to national development and nation building. It operates through a global executive committee and has over 15 regional or country apex associations that are administered by local executive committees.
The report emerges on the backdrop of a comprehensive outreach programme that saw 15 virtual meetings being held covering principal areas with high populations of Zimbabwean diasporans such as South Africa, Botswana, UK, US, Canada, Australia, China, Europe, New Zealand, east and west Africa, among others.
There were also local and global WhatsApp platforms that were formed and one global WhatsApp forum generated 500 pages in comments with 846 having been part of this WhatsApp group as membership fluctuates with members joining or exiting as they decide or as they register their views. Participants on this platform came on board and left after making their contributions, however, presently the group has 142 members. In addition, there was a survey instrument hosted on the ZDNBI website that attracted detailed responses from 97 respondents, but having been visited by 1 000 people.
Some of the principal findings emerging from the outreach to Zimbabwe's global diasporans were:
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- Government-diaspora relationship: There is a feeling among diasporans that their relationship with the government is one-sided, with the government being eager to reap diaspora remittances (which are quite substantial), while at the same time it (the government) is unwilling to bestow the diasporans with voting and property rights, lowering of remittance transfer costs, tax incentives for diaspora investors, etc that could build trust and facilitate engagement.
- Diaspora mapping: Although the government acknowledges the diaspora as a “huge untapped potential”, the size of this potential is unknown and needs to be realistically considered by accurately profiling the diasporans. But the government cannot appreciate the potential without creating conducive well-resourced spaces to dialogue.
- Brain drain versus brain circulation: The loss to the government of Zimbabwe in terms of missing out on expertise and resources is phenomenal. For example, among the leading experts for COVID-19, were Zimbabwean researchers, among leading climate scientists some of the top people are Zimbabwean. Government needs to go beyond acknowledging their wishes and find creative ways to reengage with the diasporans. However, it was noted that the growth of the digital revolution with its ease of access 24/7, innovative opportunities for “brain circulation” have developed, building on the diasporans’ desire to give back to their communities of origin.
- Cashias Gumbo is ZDNBI spokesperson and can be contacted on email: cashiasgumbo@zdnbi.com or cashiasg@gmail.com; tel: +64 21 158 7662.
