Zimbabwe's skills minister, Paul Mavima, says the whole brain drain panic is overblown because professionals working overseas actually bring back knowledge that helps local development. The government wants to flip the narrative and treat diaspora workers like a resource instead of a loss, pointing at how China sent people abroad to learn tech before bringing them home to scale up the domestic industry.
Over a thousand Zimbabwean engineers and skilled workers are scattered across places like the UK and Australia right now, and Mavima figures remote collaboration through internet platforms can tap that expertise without forcing everyone to physically return. Some have already come back and are applying their international experience to infrastructure projects around the country.
The ministry is cooking up strategies to engage expats more actively while banking on digital connectivity, making mentorship programs and virtual problem-solving way easier than before.
Over a thousand Zimbabwean engineers and skilled workers are scattered across places like the UK and Australia right now, and Mavima figures remote collaboration through internet platforms can tap that expertise without forcing everyone to physically return. Some have already come back and are applying their international experience to infrastructure projects around the country.
The ministry is cooking up strategies to engage expats more actively while banking on digital connectivity, making mentorship programs and virtual problem-solving way easier than before.
