GOVERNMENT is working on attracting Zimbabweans living in the Diaspora to invest into the country as it moves to tap into the market with a potential of contributing close to $2 billion to Gross Domestic Product.Estimates by the United Nations Development Programme put the number of Zimbabweans living outside the country between three to four million in 2010. The number has since grown significantly with recent estimates of Zimbabweans in South Africa alone between one to three million.
Speaking on the sidelines at the official launch of a financial aggregator website, ZimSelectors.com in Harare yesterday, Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor John Mangudya said Zimbabweans living abroad were contributing $1,7 billion and authorities were putting measure to lure more inflows.
“Government are working on instruments to ensure that foreign-based companies can come and invest in the country whether they are foreign or Zimbabweans living in the Diaspora,” Mangudya said.
“Right now interest rates in Europe are low between 0, 25% and 0, 5% whereas here the interest rates are 6% or 7%.”Mangudya said the $1, 7 billion was inclusive of the official and unofficial statistics and higher than exports by 50%.
Mangudya said that IT systems was one way of attracting investments from Zimbabweans living abroad who would be able to go online rather than come to Zimbabwe to make investments.
“Foreigners will also see what the investment offerings in Zimbabwe so therefore the more you give them in terms of services, the more that income can increase by up to more than $2 billion,” Mangudya said.
“People who are already in the Diaspora will know exactly what is happening in Zimbabwe so in other words you are sending Zimbabwe into the Diaspora through an IT system.”Zimbabweans are living abroad due to better financial options offered unlike in the country where the economy is facing challenges.
Mangudya said making online financial platforms would help encourage Zimbabweans in the Diaspora to invest back into the country. He also said that Zimbabwe`s high literacy rate made it easy for Zimbabweans in the Diaspora to invest back into the country making them like a permanent export.
The use of online platforms to invest into the country provides the Zimbabweans living abroad the opportunity to invest without having to come into the country, Mangudya said.
In his January monetary policy statement, Mangudya said international remittances were playing a critical role in bridging the country’s financial gap and providing the much needed liquidity in the economy. Total remittances from the Diaspora amounted to $840 million in 2014, compared to $790 million realised in 2013, he said.
ZimSelector.com is a comprehensive online financial service shopping mall and comparison site that offers a wide range of financial packages from different companies for local and foreign- based Zimbabweans.
Financial services to be included by ZimSelector.com on its online platform include products such as medical aid, funeral, home, motor, life, travel, banking and investment, among others. newsday NEWS
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