When Nyarai Goredema lost her job as a manager
with Harare-based Msasa Steel in June, she sold some of her possessions
and put her home on the market. When no one offered to buy it, she turned to
her son who works at a bank in neighbouring South Africa for support.
“It’s harsh on me and on him,” the 48-year-old widow, who
lives on the $500 to $1,000 her son sends her each month, said by phone. “In
all my life it has never been this tough.”
About 3 million of Zimbabwe’s 13 million people have left
the country in the past 15 years as policies pursued by President Robert
Mugabe’s government have driven much of the southern African nation to ruin.
The money they send to those left behind is playing an ever-increasing role in
shoring up an economy plagued by deflation and a jobless rate estimated at 95%
by the National Association of Non-Governmental Organisations.
Zimbabweans living abroad are expected to send home $2
billion this year, up from $1.8 billion last year, central bank Governor John
Mangudya said Aug. 29.
Remittances equated to about 13% of gross domestic product
in 2014, outstripping all export income besides minerals, which the Chamber of
Mines says earned the country $1.85 billion. An increased use of
electronic money transfers is being driven by the proliferation of smartphones
and Internet access.
”A substantial percentage of the population would be
severely constrained without remittances,” John Robertson, an independent
economist based in Harare, said by phone. “The irony is that people driven to
greener pastures outside the country are the same people, to a significant
extent, who keep ordinary Zimbabweans going within the country.”
While the central bank recorded remittances of $3.5
billion entering Zimbabwe between 2009 and 2014, its data excludes undeclared
payouts brought in by so-called runners—minibus taxi drivers who ply routes
between South Africa and Zimbabwe. Based on a trust system, Zimbabwean migrants
hand over cash to be delivered to relatives back home.
The runners, who also ferry groceries, kitchen appliances
and other goods, charge fees of between one percent and 10%, and haggling is
standard practice, Nixon Moyo, who operates the route between Johannesburg and
Harare, said in an interview.
While the money-transfer market has long been
dominated by Englewood, Colorado-based Western Union Co., Dallas, Texas-based
MoneyGram International Inc. and London- based Mukuru.com, the market is
opening up.
New entrants include Econet Wireless Zimbabwe Ltd., the
nation’s largest mobile-phone operator, which in partnership with U.K.-based
transfer service WorldRemit Ltd., is offering a service that enables
Zimbabweans living abroad to send money home through Econet’s 13,000 agents.
Mama Money, a Cape Town-based money transfer company has
about 10,000 regular customers who send money to Zimbabwe. It charges 5%
commission, with all transactions taking place online or by mobile phone.
“New technology shouldn’t just make it easier, it should
also make it much cheaper” to transfer cash, Mama Money spokesman Matt
Coquillon said by phone. “The aim should be to bring down commission rates to
as near zero as possible and we don’t see why that can’t happen.”
Sub-Saharan Africa is the world’s most expensive region to
send money home, with average commission rates of 9.8% comparing with a global
norm of 7.5%, according to the World Bank.
The increase in competition, falling costs and new
technology are a boon for Goredema.
”It’s much easier now because my son can send money by
phone,” she said. “He doesn’t even need to go into a bank or post office like
in the old days and I can get my money on my phone which also makes life
easier.”
Source: Mail and Guardian Africa
Time: 18:00 GMT
Date: 19/11/2015
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