Many choose to send part of their income back for business purposes or to families still living there. In many cases, this money is vital for survival.
Tawanda Tatefiwa, a musician in his mid 30s, has sent money back to his family on a monthly basis since he arrived in the UK in 1999. “It is essential. My father still works but my mother doesn’t. There is no one else who helps my parents. It is my duty. The money I send adds to whatever my father earns so it’s really helpful, I’m sure,” he said.
Tatefiwa, who lives in East London, sends between $150 and $250 a month to his mother who is responsible for a large household that includes his younger siblings and some extended family.
“It would be tough for them if I didn’t send money,” he says. “I think it’s quite common for Zimbabweans. It’s part of our culture to help everyone that you know, in any way you can.”
Back home, remittances are used to support living costs and basic needs and have helped households to recover from unexpected crises such as unemployment, illness and crop failure. One study established that 50 per cent of urban households in Harare and Bulawayo were dependent on migrant remittances for everyday life.
Remittances to Zimbabwe have grown significantly, from $17million in 1980 to about $44million in 1994 and an estimated $361million by 2007.
South African advocacy group People Against Suffering, Oppression and Poverty (Passop) has estimated that worldwide remittances currently amount to between 28 and 40 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product.
In response to the large numbers of people sending money back home, the money transfer company, Western Union, has made major efforts to tap the market. In the face of rising competition, they launched the Africa and Zimbabwe money transfer promotion from November 5 to 31 December 2012.
The competition gave customers the chance to win cash prizes ranging from £100 to £2,500 by transferring money home. Petra Lovgren, the company’s marketing manager, said: “Zimbabwe is one of the big markets and Africa as a whole is hugely important for us. That’s why we’re doing these promotions. We’ve had a couple of Zimbabwean winners which is proof there are customers who need to send money home. It’s one of the key communities that we try to engage in the UK and from a global perspective it’s going to remain part of our focus.”
One person who realizes the importance of being able to send money across the world is Western Union prize winner Thanks Mutange. The Zimbabwean father of two runs a car export company from the UK where he has been living since 2002.
Without being able to send money quickly and safely to various parts of Africa, his business would not be booming as it is today. He has trucks that carry cars between Zimbabwe and Namibia.
“You find that anything can happen during the course of that journey. Sometimes they reach Namibia and have to stay longer than originally thought, or they get delayed, or they suffer a breakdown. It’s good that we are able to send money to remote parts of Africa within 15 minutes,” he said.
By sending funds back home, Mutange and Tatefiwa, along with so many others, have helped the Zimbabwean economy to remain afloat despite the negative performance of other economic sectors.
Yet, the ability of the diaspora to effectively continue to contribute to Zimbabwe’s recovery will depend on the political and economic environment back home. The diaspora will only have an enhanced national attachment to the home country if it comes to be treated by national authorities as a legitimate stakeholder in the political and economic processes of the country going forward.
It remains to be seen whether this will happen.
Life in exile
Thanks Mutange, 37, lives in Hemel Hempstead. “I have been living in England since 2002. I moved when there was a lot of government unrest in Zimbabwe. I was running a taxi service there and police interference was making business conditions difficult. I operate a car sales business in Botswana and export cars to Namibia, Botswana and
Zimbabwe. I also run a car transporter business. I have been operating these two companies for the last two years and at the moment I can’t really complain – business is booming. I send money to
Zimbabwe for advertising and some goes to Botswana. We send fairly huge amounts. The charges are competitive although I would love them to be reduced. I also send money to my mother every fortnight. She’s the only one left in
Zimbabwe. The rest of us are scattered all over the place – I have a brother in Botswana, a sister in the UK, one in
America and one in Australia. I send money for upkeep. My mother gets US$75 a month worth of pension. It’s something but not much. She’s 57 and had to come out of work nine years ago because it didn’t make sense for her to keep going with the salary she was getting. Those who don’t have any other form of external support are really struggling. Personally for me, the lifestyle here is not one that I would want for the rest of my life.
For starters, the weather has really put me off. I would go back to Zimbabwe tomorrow. I was last there over a year ago and from what I hear, people do say the situation is getting better. But, my business is here so moving back is not anything I’m planning at the moment.”
Tawanda Tatefiwa, in his mid 30s, lives in East London. “With all that was happening in Zimbabwe from the late 90s onwards, I decided to relocate to Britain. I was part of a well-known band and had been working in the UK on and off for quite some time. I send money to my mother every month. My father works as a supervisor in a company that manufactures brushes but they don’t pay him enough.
It wasn’t enough when I was growing up. Retirement is something he’s been talking about for a long time but it never happens. If I didn’t send money, it would be tough for them. When my brothers were at home, they couldn’t afford to pay to finish their education so I helped out with that. Whatever they wanted to do in terms of improving their lives or developing themselves like doing courses or getting a driver’s licence, I had to take care of.
The amount I send varies because my income is not set. When I make more, I send more. In the UK, we are feeling the pinch but you have to keep moving. When you speak to people at home, they don’t understand this life and that it’s also very tough here. They think it’s easy to make things happen.
There are all these assumptions that life is good in Europe, America and so forth. It has always been my plan to go back to Zimbabwe. I don’t want to be here when I’m older. There are lots of things I like but there are some things I don’t like. Going back is something I consider quite a lot. The time will come when I return but for now I love what I do and I want my son to grow up with me in his life.”
Post published in: Africa News