job Description
Zimbabwe’s diaspora plays a significant role in national development, contributing to remittances, skills transfer, trade linkages, and investments. In 2024, remittance inflows accounted for approximately 10% of the GDP, equivalent to USD 2 billion. Recognizing this, the Government of Zimbabwe has prioritized diaspora engagement as a strategic component of its development agenda. The currently drafted Zimbabwe Diaspora Policy 2025-2030 outlines frameworks for leveraging diaspora contributions toward achieving Vision 2030 and fostering a resilient, upper-middle-income economy.
The 2022 Zimbabwe Diaspora Profiling and Mapping Survey conducted focused on Zimbabweans in South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States, providing valuable insights into their demographic composition, skills, and contributions to national development. Findings revealed that Zimbabwe’s diaspora plays a critical role in sustaining the economy through remittances. The survey also highlighted significant diaspora engagement through informal remittance channels, philanthropic activities, and professional knowledge-sharing initiatives. However, a majority of respondents expressed limited awareness of government-led diaspora engagement frameworks, such as the Diaspora Directorate, and emphasized challenges such as trust deficits, inadequate policy mechanisms, and limited investment opportunities in Zimbabwe. Moreover, gender disparities were evident, with remittance patterns showing differing motivations and capacities between male and female diaspora members
Key recommendations from the study included enhancing the visibility of government diaspora platforms, creating a transparent and structured diaspora engagement framework, and introducing pro-diaspora investment policies to foster trust and participation. However, a critical gap in the report was its limited scope, focusing primarily on three countries without fully capturing the global Zimbabwean diaspora. Additionally, the absence of comprehensive gender-disaggregated data restricted a deeper understanding of the unique challenges faced by women and men in the diaspora. This gap underscores the need for a more inclusive and systematic mapping exercise to capture the broader geographic and demographic scope of Zimbabwe’s diaspora. Such a comprehensive approach will not only address gender patterns in remittances and investment but also inform evidence-based policies to bridge existing gaps and maximize diaspora contributions to national development
To address these gaps, the Government of Zimbabwe, with support from the African Development Bank (AfDB) under the Streamlining Diaspora Engagement to Catalyze Private Investments and Entrepreneurship for Enhanced Resilience (SDE4R) project, seeks to conduct a new diaspora mapping initiative.
The primary objective is to harness the potential of Zimbabweans abroad by systematically capturing data on their skills, investment interests, and remittance behaviors, while focusing on gender patterns in their contributions. This data will inform policies to enhance diaspora engagement and reduce gender disparities in development.
Organizational Department / Unit to which the Consultant is contributing
The consultant will be supporting the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade through the Diaspora Directorate
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