Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. By Leopold Munhende – ZIMBABWEAN owned Access Forex, a money transferring platform operating in the UK, South Africa and locally, has pledged 10 loaves of bread for every family whose member sends them money from UK.
In a statement Friday, Access Forex Head of Sales and Marketing Shingai Koti said the initiative was meant to complement efforts by their UK clients some of whom have had their income negatively affected by endless Covid-19 lockdowns in either country while struggling to fend for families back home.
Some 50 000 loaves have already been set aside for the initiative.
“Starting this week, any new client who registers and sends money to Zimbabwe using our remittance platform will immediately receive 10 loaves of bread with the transaction which will be delivered right to the doorstep of the receiver of the funds,” said Koti.
“Winter is traditionally a very difficult time for many families in Zimbabwe and with this campaign, we wanted to reward the people that look after their families from abroad.
“Some of our customers in the UK send money to supplement consumption and help with basic groceries, however, the UK lockdown has negatively affected income for many Zimbabweans working there.
“We began to think about how we could help ease the burden of taking care of their families back home and only way to ease the burden is to share it, so breakfast is on Access Forex this June,” explained Koti.
Zimbabwe’s official remittances from the diaspora were up 45 percent in 2020 at 657.7 million according to Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor John Mangudya as Covid-19 restrictions forced those in the diaspora to send money via formal channels.
The diaspora remittances form a large chunk of foreign currency inflows into the country.
Some of the over two million living in South Africa and other neighbouring countries had been sending money by road, buses, trucks and through private transporters commonly referred to as oMalayitsha.
