The government has drafted a Diaspora policy, which
seeks to tap into remittances that are estimated to be about $1,8 billion per
annum.
This comes as the importance of remittances has risen,
as they are now generating more money than foreign direct investment (FDI).
Speaking at a stakeholder engagement Workshop on a
review of the Industrial Development Policy (IDP) yesterday in Harare,
government consultant, Gibson Chigumira said the policy would govern how
government could tap into remittances.
"This is a policy where we are saying how do we
tap into remittances from overseas for the economy. Currently, there is a draft
policy awaiting approval," he said.
The lack of liquidity and the recent negative response
to the introduction of bond notes have contributed to government seeking
alternative sources of income to boost the economy.
ZNCC chief executive officer Christopher Mugaga said
with more than two million Zimbabweans living outside the country, there was
need to seriously look into that space.
"A simple fact that we have more than two million
Zimbabweans residing outside the country calls for concerted efforts to tap
into their skills and purses, as a way to industrialisation. It is also a fact
that Diaspora remittances are one of the major sources of liquidity in Zimbabwe
ahead of FDI," he said.
Mugaga said some of the policy measures that
government can adopt are a transfer of know-how through expatriate nationals
(Tokten), return of qualified Zimbabwe nationals (RQZN) programme and
Zimbabwean network of skilled Africans.
Tokten would be used for to recapture some of the
experience of highly skilled expatriate professionals residing outside their
countries of origin; RQZN would reduce the gap between the Zimbabwe economy and
the fast-growing international market, by using services of their citizens in
the Diaspora.