HARNESSING DIASPORA INITIATIVES FOR SUB-REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT

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HARNESSING DIASPORA INITIATIVES FOR SUB-REGIONAL
DEVELOPMENT

• Professor Bolade M. Eyinla
• Department of History
• University of Ilorin
• Ilorin, NIGERIA
• bmeyinla_at_unilorin.edu.ng

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TEASER

• 50 Million Overseas Chinese constitutes one of
  the largest Diaspora in the World. This Diaspora
  has built up powerful business networks
  controlling significant sectors of the economy in
  South and East Asia and beyond. In the course of
  50 years, they have made a tremendous
  contribution to the socio-economic development of
  China. The Government of China has accorded
  preferential treatment to the Chinese Diaspora by
  creating an enabling environment for them to get
  involved in the economic development of China

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NEED FOR PARAGIDM SHIFT

• Need to stop talking about brain drain of human
  capital from Africa and to focus attention on
  brain circulation and brain gain of Africans for
  Continental Development

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THE DIASPORA

• The word Diaspora originated from the Greek words
  diaspeirõ, that is scatter.
• The word used originally to describe the
  dispersal of Jews in the 8th to 6th BC.
• It is now used to describe any group of people so
  dispersed.

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THE WEST AFRICAN DIASPORA

• West African Diaspora refers to all persons
  originating from the West African Sub-region who
  reside, work, or pursue educational careers in
  various host countries.
• People of West African origin who maintain strong
  sentimental and material links with their
  respective home countries in the sub-region.
• Peoples of African descent who trace their roots
  back to West Africa and have such attachments to
  the sub-region.

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THE WEST AFRICAN DIASPORA

• West African Diaspora is not a collective group
  with collective identities.
• They are not homogeneous entity, but are
  heterogeneous individuals and groups with
  diverse goals and interest
• Operate through informal, ad-hoc and disparate
  structures outside of mainstream development
  agencies

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THE WEST AFRICAN DIASPORA

• There exists among them the possibility of
  transnational cooperation and collaboration.
• The existence of such cooperation and
  collaboration are real and must be acknowledged
  by ECOWAS and the member states.
• To do otherwise may lead to the exclusion of many
  individuals, communities and networks willing to
  contribute to national and regional development.

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THE WEST AFRICAN DIASPORA

• African Governments at national, regional and
  continental level must not be
• Oblivious
• Indifferent
• Hostile to their Diaspora and their progeny.
• Doing so means overlooking an important
  development resource
• Rather they must develop an Efficient Diaspora
  Strategy (EDS) in mobilising human fiscal
  capital for development

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IMPORTANCE OF THE DIASPORA

• An Efficient Diaspora Strategy (EDS) must be
  enabling, inclusionary and operated as a
  partnership.
• EDS has become an important developmental
  resource.
• EDS is becoming critical for national, regional
  and continental political and socio-economic
  development.
• EDS increasingly occupies a central theme in
  international development debates.

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IMPORTANCE OF THE DIASPORA

• EDS assist in promoting development
• Through Foreign Direct Investment
• Remittance of money other resources
• Participation in political processes
• Encouraging tourism and cultural understanding
• Transfer of knowledge, experience, know-how and
  intellectual capital.

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ENGAGING THE DIASPORA

• Strategies
• Identify Diaspora Groups Communities
• Build a network with these communities
• Establish positive communication with them
• Establish an agenda for action with them
• Provide an enabling and adequate policy
  environment
• Acknowledge ability of the Diaspora to bring new
  political and economic ideas, skills,
  investments, and above all, new ways of doing
  things

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ENGAGING THE DIASPORA

• ECOWAS COUNTRIES WITH ACTIVE DIASPORA POLICY
  STRATEGY
• NIGERIA Ministries, Agencies, Departments, NIDO,
  PSOs and CBOs
• GHANA Ministries, Agencies, Departments, Joseph
  Project and HTAs
• MALI Full Fledged Ministry
• SENEGAL Full Fledged Ministry

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ENGAGING THE DIASPORA

• Strategies
• Improving the availability of relevant data on
  Diaspora population
• Embark on advocacy and capacity building
  activities
• Strengthen partnership among all stakeholders,
  e.g. private institutions, academia, public
  enterprises and other development stakeholders
• Develop joint strategies for development

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ENGAGING THE DIASPORA

• Recognize the Diaspora as full citizens and
  recognize their initiatives, competencies and
  capabilities for institutional change and
  building leadership
• Establish organized structure for harnessing
  Diaspora initiatives and contribution
• Entrench adequate strategies into a national
  policy on Diaspora
• Address structural institutional and systemic
  roadblocks against mainstreaming Diaspora into
  national/regional political and socio-economic
  life

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ENGAGING THE DIASPORA

• Regional Focus Areas
• Infrastructure, Science and ICT
• Development of Small, Medium Micro Enterprises
• Enhancement of Entrepreneurial and Technical
  Skill for the Youth
• Promoting FDI

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ENGAGING THE DIASPORA

• Address
• View of Diaspora foreigners with lots of money
  to spend and thus treated unfairly, routinely
  overcharged and often misled
• State of insecurity as high level of security
  translates into high level of return, whereas low
  level of security implies low return
• Create conducive environment for Business
  Development to mitigate deplorable state of
  infrastructure, epileptic power supply, health
  facilities, inefficient capital market,
  corruption, poor investment climate and public
  law enforcement mechanisms

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ENGAGING THE DIASPORA

• Develop Partnership with the World Bank, UNDP,
  IOM and relevant development partners
• Adapt international best practice standards and
  have assisted several countries/regions in Latin
  America, the Caribbean, Asia, and Africa
• Adopt Benchmark practices of countries/regions
  that have implemented successful programme in
  Diaspora engagement

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ENGAGING THE DIASPORA

• THANK YOU.