BY MUTSA MURENJE Globally, it is estimated that 1 in 7 people is a migrant. Though this measly figure appears to be statistically insignificant and to give credence to the critics of the so-called mobility bias in migration studies, it must be noted that migration does not necessarily end one’s ties to their country of origin or ancestry. To instantiate, a recent study by the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) in Austria established that transnational activities by migrants from Bosnia and Herzegovina, India, the Philippines, and Ukraine were not incompatible with integration. Rather, the migrants engaged in multifarious ways and in different societies. Thus, it is logical that there is an expanding corpus of literature that is devoted to supporting diasporans, because they matter. This treatise makes a case for meaningful diaspora engagement by countries of the Global South, of which Zimbabwe is one. The term diaspora describes a group of people living outside their country of ancestry, origin, or affinity, though they maintain close links with it. As descendants of migrants or migrants, their sense of belonging and identity has their genesis in their background and migration experience. Through their shared sense of identity and belonging, diasporans contribute and connect to their origin and destination countries. Global initiatives to support diasporans’ contributions to sustainable development are expanding in both migrant sending and receiving countries. It is becoming increasingly and incandescently clear that many nation-States are now aware of the role of the diaspora in development (see, for instance, https://seefar.org/research/diaspora-engagement-in-development/). Owing to this awareness, States continue to seek ways through which they might enlarge or boost the financial resources and human capital that migrants contribute to their countries of origin (as shown on https://ec.europa.eu/international-partnerships/stories/eu-launches-global-diaspora-engagement-mapping-and-platform_en). Inevitably, diasporans who contribute mainly financial remittances though organisations like the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) believe there exists a huge untapped potential in terms of investments, promoting trade, humanitarian relief, and innovation and knowledge and technology transfers. The Migration Policy Institute concurs arguing that apart from their financial remittance contributions, diasporas contribute to national development in their countries of origin, for instance, as generous philanthropists, direct investors in emerging and critical industries, in the development of human capital, and as first movers in the development of critical sectors such as tourism. As first movers, diaspora entrepreneurs are fearless, and it is only through better support that they will be able to transfer innovative business strategies, technologies, and new skills. Not only do diasporas invest in new markets, they also open new businesses thereby acting as facilitators of future investment