Diaspora bonds will not work

The government’s proposal to tap into the Diaspora which remits about US$1.6 billion a year into Zimbabwe will not work because the Diaspora does not trust the government and does not want an imposition of investment rules by the government. Durani Rapozo, coordinator of the Zimbabwe Diaspora Development Link, said “what we want is an engagement on the best way of investment…..There’s nobody who wants to invest in an unstable environment, and instability comes from not knowing about dual nationality issues and so on. We need to engage the government and say: ‘This what we want as the Diaspora and this is what we think is the best way forward'”. The proposal was today reported to have met stiff resistance from the Diaspora because it says it has been short-changed by the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front all along. “These people have no shame. First they call us bottom cleaners, then they deny us the vote. Now they want us to invest in government issued bonds. I know what you can do with your bonds,” said one.

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