Africa And Her Diasporas: Building Global Partnerships For Development (A Case Study Of Nigeria) (original) (raw)
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Diasporas and the Efficacies of Sustainable National Development inAfrica: The Case of Nigeria
Donnish Journal of African Studies and Development, 2015
One of the most critical elements of contemporary globalization is the astronomical increase in migration across the globe. This exodus of people is, indeed, the cardinal global forces driving the world in the 21st century and one resultant effect of this phenomenon which is essentially evidenced is the emergence of a large Diaspora from the South in the affluent countries of the West. Consequent upon the huge number of the African Diaspora in Western host countries, much empirical study has not been carried out to determine the activities of the African Diaspora in their respective homelands in terms of remittances and overall contribution to National development. This paper aims at studying the engagements of the African Diaspora in National Development of the continent with particular attention to Nigeria. The paper took a panoramic view of the activities of Diaspora Nigerians in order to achieve its primary objectives. A critical examination of the forms, dimensions and types of Diaspora funded projects becomes imperative. This session is therefore devoted to the discussion of Diasporas and the Efficacies of National Development with a focus on Nigeria.
The Emerging Roles of Diaspora in the Restructuring of Nigerian State
The changing world economic fortunes as affected the Third World countries has brought about various Structural Adjustment Programmes by the World Bank and other International organisations to cushion its effect on these countries. Over the years, the economic progress of these countries remained dampened and even got worse while at the same time, the richer countries became richer. In these circumstances a number of programmes, projects and methods have been designed to bring about development and turn things around for these countries and their regions. Poverty has been the obvious indicator of the hopelessness of the people of these regions of which Africa is said to have the highest number of such poverty-stricken countries and people living below the poverty level. Migration especially of people of these countries to oversee countries such as the USA, Europe by the people of this region is viewed as opportunities to alleviate the suffering of families by the remittances the migrants send to their families back home. In recent times, researches have confirmed the importance of remittances by the Africans in Diaspora. In fact, such remittances have exceeded official development assistance and Foreign Direct Investments as the Diasporas are becoming a vocal voice by their achievements in the countries of their abode which by and large they are beginning to be of immense assistance to their countries of natural birth by the positive contributions they make. This is basically the focus of this paper to examine the roles of Nigerians in the Diaspora in addressing the developmental problems through their competencies and financial capabilities in the restructuring of the Nigerian state economically, socially and politically.
THE NIGERIAN DIASPORA, GOVERNMENTAL PARTNERSHIP AND DEVELOPMENT INTERVENTIONS
2018
This paper argues that the Nigerian government's partnership with the Diaspora can advance the country's development. The Diaspora constitutes a viable pool of resource to assist in national development. Partnership between the Nigerian Diaspora and government before 1999 was limited to occasional contact and activities. This could be attributed to the decades of political instability, domestic maladjustment, economic downturns and increasing poverty within the country. Political instability gave way to democratic change and the need to source for development led the Nigerian government to officially recognize the Nigerian Diaspora as important stakeholders and potential partners in the country's development. President Obasanjo's administration in 1999 orchestrated the establishment of the Nigerian Diaspora association(NIDO, established in 2001)to mobilize, engage and involve the Diaspora in the nations development process. It is on record that despite challenges and setbacks, government effort yielded some tangible results in terms of solid personal and institutional linkages.It is important to note that expatriate Nigerians are actively involved in health insurance, mortgages, and registered pension and credit purchase schemes among other initiatives. This paper argues that government partnership in development intervention has laid a good foundation and should be further exploited to yield good results.
The Development Dimension in Nigeria: Understanding the Role of Diaspora and Globalization
The reality recognized by immigration experts is a dynamic and effective link between the diaspora and the host and the home country. This is a very important factor in globalization. Diaspora groups are less well known and less valued in their regional development interventions. This lack of recognition may be due to small scholarly studies on foreign development interventions, lack of recognition and promotion by local government, limited contact prior to global technology benefits and lack of awareness of scale, scope and impact of technology. However, it is noted that the scale, scope and impact of the various Diaspora development efforts will vary on a variety of factors, namely the size of the developing country and the complexity of the challenges it faces, the impact/level of trade acceptance, the benefits of technology and the level of acceptance. In the Nigerian context, however, a strong global trade connection was recognized with the launch of the global web, communications and exchanges encouraged communication and transfer of funds to increase awareness and maximize the benefits of foreign intervention benefits. As a result of this migration it becomes an important resource in helping development.
Leveraging the African Diaspora for Development
Migration is on the rise on the African continent, and impacts the both positively and negatively. The positive impacts include remittances and diaspora contributions to national development, while negative impacts include brain drain, de-skilling and costs of managing international borders. The past decade had witnessed the intensification of the migration and development debate, with scholars, governments, and development agencies and practitioners increasingly exploring the links between migration and development. The migration and development discourse is an exercise in maximising the impact of migration positives on national development while simultaneously mitigating the impact of the negative aspects. A nation’s diaspora, and all the positives that can flow from its existence are some of the issues that have attracted the attention of academics, practitioners and diasporas. African countries recognize the role that their diasporas can play in national development, and are factoring diaspora issues in their national development frameworks, and establishing national structures dedicated to the management and coordination of diaspora issues. This paper latches onto the diaspora engagement debate, examines what is known about leveraging the development potential of diasporas for development, identifies challenges in diaspora engagement efforts and raises issues for consideration by policy makers and practitioners in a quest to strengthen diaspora engagement.
Harnessing diaspora resources for Africa : overview
2009
African countries. including those in North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa, have over 30 million international migrants. The size of the African dias para. including unrecorded migrants and second-and third-generation migrants. is significantly larger. Migrant remittances to Africa exceeded US$40 billion in 2010. providing a lifeline to the poor in many African cotlntries. The potential contribution of the diaspora to the continent's development goes much beyond personal remittances. Those contribll~ lions range from collective remittances that assist in philanthropic activi~ ties to knowledge exchange. increased trade links. and better access to foreign capital markets. It is estimated that the African diasporas save US$53 billion annually. most of which is currently invested outside Africa and which could potentially be mobilized for Africa via instruments such as diaspora bonds. This book is an attempt to understand various ways-investments. trade links. skill and technology transfer-in which diaspora resources (other than remittances) can potentially be mobilized for the develop ment of Africa. 'fhis volume is the outcome of the International Conference on Diaspora and Development. held at the World Bank headquarters in Washington. DC on July 13-14.2009. as part of the 2008-11 Africa Migration Project. Ali the chapters in this volume Were originally papers presented at 2 PlAZA AND RAniA the conference. The papers served as background material for a joint regional report of the African Development Bank and [he World Bank entitled "Leveraging Migration for Africa: Remittances. Skills, and Invest ments" (released in March 2011). Collectively. these chapters provide the unique perspective of African and other countries on initiatives to maxi mize the benefits of diaspora engagement and their contributions. The four sections of this overview will discuss the following areas: • Where the African diaspora is located • Benefits of the disapora, such as rernitlances, trade. various kinds of investment (induding foreign direct investment. investment by house holds. investments in capital markets. investment funds. and diaspora bonds). collective remittances. and the transfer of technology facilitated by diasporas • Policies that African and destination countries should consider to increase [he diasporas' contribUlion to development • Conclusions. Locating the African Diaspora Estimating the size of the African diaspora is difficult due to incomplete data and to difference, in defining both migrants and diasporas (see box I). In this overview, we use the narrow but convenient definition of diaspora as 'foreign-born population.' According to the Migration and Remitlances Fact book 2011. the stock of international emigrants from African nations totaled 30.6 million in 2010 (World Bank 2011). African Diasporas Within Africa Countries within Africa are the main destinations for Sub-Saharan African migrants. For other African migrants (including those from North Africa), destination countries outside Africa are equally impor tant. According to the Migration and Remittances Factbook 2011. African diaspora, living in Africa accounted for over 14 million people. or nearly half of all African diasporas. For example. large numbers of immigrants from Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo 3
In this article two sources of socio-economic development finance, African Diaspora remittance funds and Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) funds, for Africa are compared. It is argued that Diaspora remittance funds constitute a better alternative to ODA funds for the development of Africa for a number of reasons. Not only have Diaspora remittance funds outpaced ODA funds but they are more efficiently deployed for the development of the African continent in three main ways. The funds are less likely to be misspent as compared to the misappropriations and legendary inefficiencies in the foreign aid industry. Diaspora remittance funds, as gifts of love, are better focused on building the family and hence the nation. The distribution of these Diaspora remittance funds is far more efficient than ODA funds since these monies go directly to paying school fees, building houses, and growing businesses. Some proposals are made to indicate how African governments can facilitate more remitt...