Diaspora Remittances, Rural Development, and Productive Investment in Zimbabwe: A Systematic Review of Challenges and Opportunities
Alexander Maune ORCID ↗ · Ezekiel Chitombo
International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science · 2026 · Vol. 15 / Issue 6 · 86-101
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Abstract
The aim of this article is to examine how diaspora remittances could be more effectively channelled to support rural development and, where the evidence permits, productive investment in Zimbabwe. Using the PRISMA systematic review approach, thirty-two sources published between 2013 and 2025 were reviewed, comprising peer-reviewed journal articles alongside doctoral theses, working papers, and institutional and policy reports; this composition is grey-literature-inclusive rather than confined to peer-reviewed articles. The review synthesizes evidence on the challenges, opportunities, and policy instruments relevant to the developmental use of remittances. The reviewed evidence most strongly supports remittances' role in sustaining rural household welfare improving access to food, healthcare, and education, and reducing poverty and vulnerability to shocks. Evidence connecting remittances to productive investment and, more specifically, to Gross Capital Formation (GCF) a national-accounts concept that is not synonymous with household saving or spending is considerably thinner and is treated here as suggestive rather than established. Only two of the 32 included studies directly estimate a remittance–GCF relationship specifically for Zimbabwe. High transaction costs, weak institutional coordination, and limited financial inclusion appear, across the reviewed studies, to constrain the share of remittances directed toward saving and investment. The article discusses policy instruments including diaspora bonds, remittance-linked savings products, digital financial platforms, and investment cooperatives -that are proposed, on the basis of international experience and the authors' own analysis, as potential mechanisms for increasing the productive use of remittances, while noting that Zimbabwe-specific evidence for their effectiveness remains limited. This review was conducted by two authors without independent duplicate screening or a formal risk-of-bias appraisal instrument, limitations that are discussed explicitly and that readers should bear in mind when interpreting the synthesis.
Keywords: {'name': 'Diaspora Remittances; Rural Development; Gross Capital Formation; Zimbabwe; Financial Inclusion'}
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Alexander Maune
Affiliation not supplied
Ezekiel Chitombo
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