Zimpapers Logo

Africa Moyo Senior Business Reporter
INFORMATION, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa says everyone, including those in the Diaspora, has a role to play in the economic transformation envisaged by the new administration. Minister Mutsvangwa said this on Thursday in Harare during a “Young Professionals Forum”, which was also addressed by Finance and Economic Development Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube.

The young professionals, many of whom have worked for top international companies such as Goldman Sachs, and McKinsey & Company, which are based in the United States, indicated their willingness to play their part in turning around the economy.

“When everybody gets involved, we know that we are moving. Our job at the Ministry of Information, (and) we have been doing this with all my colleagues, is just to make sure we mould the good message which will be able to project the right message which we want as Zimbabwe.

“I have always said this is our country – all of us; we are equal shareholders in this country. Nobody is more special than the other and as such, as Zimbabweans, we need to all come on the table (and) our ideas should actually flow.

“We are grateful to the President (Emmerson Mnangagwa) for opening this democratic space which gives us as Zimbabweans an opportunity to interact and make sure no ideas will fall,” she said.

One of the young professionals, Mr Simba Mhungu, an investment banker who used to work for Goldman Sachs, said there are several Zimbabweans in the Diaspora keen to return and deploy the ideas obtained from years of working abroad, for the betterment of the country.

“If you go to Nairobi, there are thousands of Zimbabweans that are in start-up environments; the same thing if you go to Madrid, believe it or not, in Barcelona, Cambridge, Oxford, RBS, Silicon Valley, Boston (Massachusetts), Golden Triangle in the (United) States, you find a lot of Zimbabweans who . . . are contributing to other economies.

“These very people could be doing it right here in this country provided the ecosystem allows them to breathe,” said Mr Mhungu.

Minister Mutsvangwa conceded that she was aware of many Diasporans who have shaken foreign economies that are keen to work for the development of the country.

She said if all the talent was brought home, there was no room for the economy to fail to recover.
“We want those fantastic ideas to come on board,” said Minister Mutsvangwa.

Since the coming in of the new dispensation, many Zimbabweans in the Diaspora have been coming to explore business opportunities in the country.