The Sunday News
Economic Focus Gabriel Masvora
IT is often said that most people only discover the goodness or worthiness of what they have after a stranger has come in and snatched it. It has become some form of a disease that people ignore most of these opportunities around them or rather take a lackadaisical approach towards exploring them. Zimbabwe is one pot of gold crying out for a take but somehow its people are not ready to explore it to its full potential.
It has taken another foreigner to remind us that we are a land of honey and gold.
A few weeks ago, Africa’s richest man Mr Aliko Dangote was in the country to lay out the groundwork for major investment projects in the country. The Nigerian billionaire whose net worth is estimated at $17,2 billion by Forbes Magazine announced that he will invest in multi-million investments in Zimbabwe in three sectors which are power, cement and coal mining.
He said he intends to construct a 1,5 million tonne per annum cement grinding plant in the country. His team is already in the country working on the paperwork needed and from the look of things the machines will be running by the end of the year. The coming in of Mr Dangote has somehow excited the markets and the country at large. Even some local people now have a different perception about a country they had lived in all along.
Somehow all the opportunities Mr Dangote wants to explore look new, but have always been there.
We are living with the opportunities. We are surrounded by the opportunities and more opportunities will avail themselves along the way.
Yes, it is not a secret that while the opportunities are there for most locals and are even keen to take them, they lack the financial muscle to start the businesses.
This has not been helped by a limping financial sector which has tightened its lending conditions resulting in short term and expensive money on the market.
But there is another Zimbabwean community which is living and working in other countries which must start thinking about their role in developing the country following the coming in of Mr Dangote.
It is estimated that more than three million Zimbabweans are living in other countries especially in South Africa and other neighbouring countries.
It is not everyone out there who has made it in whatever they are doing.
However, over the past years, we have read and heard of Zimbabweans in the diaspora who are now big executives in multi-international corporates.
We have read of Zimbabweans who have even established companies in some of the countries they are now based in and these companies are doing extremely well.
They might not be as big or as rich as Mr Dangote but they must start asking themselves whether they have done enough to help in the uplifting of their country.
According to the Central Bank, diaspora remittances have been growing over the years, an indication of their potential not just to send home money for their relatives but for investments too.
Latest figures from the Apex Bank estimates that Diaspora remittances into the country are standing at around $1,7 billion and gravitating towards $2 billion.
Of course the figures show that $840 million came in through the formal banking system in 2014 and $790 million in 2013.
The rest is coming in through other non-formal channels like the individual and buses.
This just shows the potential our brothers and sisters have in uplifting this country.
Some of these people working in the diaspora might not have the money which can be compared to Mr Dangote but surely there are vast opportunities around the country which can suit their pockets.
If Mr Dangote can come in and immediately announce plans to do such mega projects, it means he has seen the potential. He has seen a place which can bring a return to his investments.
No investor, especially a billionaire for that matter, just plunges in before doing some research.
This is another confirmation of the potential this country has. Opportunities in Zimbabwe do not start in billions or millions. There are small projects that require small capital and if combined can bring change to the economy.
The advantages those working in the diaspora could enjoy if they intend to invest locally are many.
These are our own people. They know the terrain and the history and more importantly the opportunities which many foreigners might not be even aware of.
They do not have to think about some of these laws and channels which foreign investors have to go through just to ensure that they can start doing business in the country.
In fact Government has put in place numerous measures meant to entice and make sure that people in the diaspora can easily invest.
The Central Bank through its Homelink subsidiary has established a business unit Investlink whose mandate is to spearhead investment needs of the Diasporans through integration with economic activities in the country.
The Government wants to see diasporans syndicate, form consortiums and pool resources for investment in sectors such as energy solutions through mini-hydro power projects and tourism sector development through theme parks which are being pursued by the Ministry of Tourism and Hospitality Industries.
The Government has also identified opportunities in the agricultural sector, particularly irrigation and horticulture for the export markets as a way of harnessing foreign currency.
It added that diasporans can exploit the provision of the Indigenisation Policy to venture in various manufacturing subsectors, including small-scale and large-scale mining.
Other opportunities exist in industry in general and the Zimbabwe Investments Authority has been assigned to help diasporans willing to invest as well as buy stock from existing companies through the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange.
Of course we cannot do it alone and we need investors like Mr Dangote and those from other countries such as China and Russia but charity begins at home.
All these investors coming to Zimbabwe started somewhere and most likely in their home countries.
We can do the same. Starting here, small as it might be, we can grow and who knows maybe the next Dangote will come from our own background.
