Abstract
AbstractBased on a qualitative study of Zimbabwean migrants based in South Africa, who regularly remitted goods and money to Zimbabwe between 2010 and 2020, this paper suggests that at a local level, remittances alleviated poverty with very limited if any transformation of the political economy at the national level. Such remittances promoted consumerism without sustainable investment that can structurally transform the economy. In addition, the dependence on remittances entrenches the culture of migration at the local level, which also contributes to or promotes ethno-tribal fissiparity. In rethinking diaspora remittances in the post-Mugabe era, it is advanced that the seemingly intractable economic and political quagmire in Zimbabwe must be resolved to inspire confidence in the diaspora to pull remittances together for a national socio-economic cause and not local-level band-aid accomplishments which remittances currently do.
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Reference67 articles.
1. Adegoke, Y. (2020). Remittances from migrants to African countries will plunge by nearly a quarter this year. Quartz Africa. Retrieved June 23, 2020, from https://qz.com/africa/1844973/world-bank-remittances-to-africa-to-plunge-by-a-quarter/
2. Baldé, Y. (2011). The impact of remittances and foreign aid on savings/investment in Sub-Saharan Africa. African Development Review, 23(2), 247–262.
3. Barajas, A., Chami, R., Fullenkamp, C., Gapen, M. & Montiel, P. (2009). Do workers” remittances promote economic growth? IMF Working Paper WP/09/153: International Monetary Fund.
4. Bauböck, R. (2003). Towards a political theory of migrant transnationalism. International Migration Review, 37(3), 700–723.
5. Bauböck, R., & Faist, T. (Eds.). (2010). Diaspora and transnationalism: Concepts, theories and methods. Amsterdam University Press.