Farai Shawn Matiashe

Struggling to survive on her meagre salary, Zimbabwean nurse Jane decided to start a new life abroad but, one year after landing a job in Britain, she is still waiting to pack her bags.

Jane is not alone. Zimbabwean nurses eager to escape deepening poverty say their government is barring them from pursuing opportunities overseas as it seeks to stem a brain drain of health workers.

In a fertile stretch of fields and farms dubbed New Harare, Zimbabwe is building a high-tech "cyber city" a world away from the traffic-clogged streets and overcrowded slums of the country's nearby capital.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa, eager to highlight positive news about the country's troubled economy, launched the first $500-million stage of the Zim Cyber City project last year in partnership with Dubai-based company Mulk International.

Zimbabwean soccer player Marjory Nyaumwe is used to carrying her country's hopes as part of the women's national "Mighty Warriors" team.

But she can barely afford to travel to training sessions since global governing body FIFA banned Zimbabwe from international matches last year, leaving top players facing a sharp drop in income and an uncertain future.

When Zimbabwean deminer Memory Mutepfa digs up a landmine, places it in a pit and blows it up using electronic detonators, she feels pride, not fear.

Mutepfa, 31, belongs to a group of women working to clear mines in eastern Zimbabwe, where the country's former British colonial rulers laid millions of anti-personnel landmines during the 1970s Liberation War.