Diasporans urged to mobilise development funds

ZIMBABWEANS domiciled in the United Kingdom have been urged to collectively mobilise resources and form bonds that will allow them to easily invest in infrastructure development back home.

The call was made by the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) acting chief executive Rita Likukuma while addressing diasporans in London last Friday.

Likukuma's London address marked the end of a two-week road show that was rolled out to many cities in the UK to encourage diasporians to come and invest back home and be part of national economic development drive.

She said de-dollarisation would stabilise the country's economy and guarantee security of investment.

"As Zimbabweans, you need a stake in your country. We are moving towards a secure form of investment after the government's decision to de-dollarise," Likukuma said.

Zimbabwe dumped the decade long multi-currency system last month citing price stabilisation as the main reason. However, the move has failed to bring down the prices.

Likukuma said there were a lot of areas diasporans can invest in, including tourism, energy, agriculture and the manufacturing sectors.

"For example, the country is currency faced with energy challenges. We need a solution, we need to aggregate our energy and money and overcome these challenges. For example, establishing Victoria Falls as a green zone with truly viable and dependable energy. We can create these characteristics to add to the Victoria Falls as a natural wonder," Likukuma said.

"We are looking for a situation where diasporans can come back home and participate in the development of the country. For example, engineers in Haddington came up with a proposal where they could work with schools in Zimbabwe and encourage an exchange programme that can benefit our pupils back home. These are the partnerships that can help the country and our own people in the diaspora can spear head the projects."