Week of May 23, 2009
From Refugee to Entrepreneur
The World Bank announced a few days ago that it will funnel $22 million to Zimbabwe. That's the first injection of World Bank capital there since 2001. The money won't go to the government, but to aid agencies and church groups that help small farmers and the poor.
This aid comes too late to help the estimated 3 million people who've already left the country, fleeing the economic meltdown there. Many of them headed south, into South Africa. That's what 31-year-old Joe Moyo (not his real name) did. To get there, he jumped a freight train in Zimbabwe and got off in Musina, just 10 miles over the border. Moyo soon discovered that jobs are hard to come by in South Africa.
So, desperate to earn money to send back to his wife and children, Moyo decided to start his own business. Tendai Maphosa brings us the next segment in our Street Vendor series.
