Enterprise and Employment in Africa

Diaspora Engagement on Country Entrepreneurship and Investment

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Diaspora entrepreneurship and investments are often hailed as drivers of economic development and positive change, and there is enough evidence to support this: 80% of FDI in China is from the Chinese diaspora, Indian diasporas in the USA have played an instrumental role in building up India’s IT industry and creating a second ‘Silicon Valley’ in their country — to name some of the well-known success stories. This is no different to African diaspora actors. So who are these people and how have they become so engaged with their home countries?

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Diaspora and Migrant Investment and National Development: Building On The Nexus

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The current era of intensifying global mobility presents unique challenges as well as opportunities for migrant and diaspora contributions to the development of their countries of origin, heritage and residence. Hundreds of millions of people are living outside their countries of birth, and the recent global migration crisis has resulted in mass displacement of an unprecedented scale. Diaspora and migrant enterprise, investment and remittances have tremendous potential to positively contribute to the global migration and development nexus. To realize this potential, transformative shifts in the management of global human and resource flows have become crucial for all migration stakeholders.

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Can NEPAD harness the African diasporas developmental efforts?

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The publication of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) in October 2001 appears on the face of it (we may alter our view with the benefit of hindsight) to be significant. Ostensibly, it is the first major attempt since the 1980 Lagos Plan of Action (LPA) by Africans to put forward an African agenda aiming to shift the continent out of its current crisis and onto a path of sustainable development. The African Alternative Framework to Structural Adjustment accompanied the LPA. (It is perhaps a sad sign of the times that activists once critical of the LPA now look back at it with misty-eyed nostalgia!)

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AFFORD Policy Brief: Blended Finance Summary July 2019

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Attracting private capital to emerging or frontier markets in Africa poses significant challenges for governments, development Finance Institutions (DFIs), philanthropists, and private impact investors. It also opens up opportunities, given the increasing shift by investors towards funds that help meet Environmental, Social Responsibility, and Governance (ESG) concerns. Drawing in such private capital flows to unlock the estimated USD $331 billion needed for small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) growth in Africa, will be critical in meeting targets set in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

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AFFORD BUSINESS CLUB: ABC Study Report 2016

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The outbreak of Ebola virus disease (EVD) which struck Sierra Leone in May 2014, and lasted until November 2015, brought with it a tragic death toll, as well as devastation of families and communities and disruption to social life. The 18-month crisis had an equally devastating effect on the country’s economy and businesses, particularly its SMEs. The various domestic and international interventions imposed to contain the outbreak, including restrictions on travel and trade, and emergency measures to curtail movement and gatherings, increased economic hardship and impacted diaspora and foreign investors with operations in the country. In addition, the collapse in commodity prices during the Ebola outbreak, including the global price of iron ore, affected the mining sector, and also had a significant economic impact resulting in decline in government revenue, job losses and drop in income for SMEs in the supply chain.

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The AFFORD Business Club Guide To: Doing Business in Nigeria Vol 1 – 2018-19

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This factsheet, produced as part of the AFFORD Business Club’s services, provides a route map of the exciting business opportunities in Nigeria for existing and potential investors within the Small and Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) sector. It aims to bring together useful information and insights that will ease business and country operations for diaspora and other businesses in the complex Nigerian market. The ABC Guide opens with an overview of the country’s economy, political and social context,with basic market insights into the business opportunities that exist in key sectors. In addition to access to finance, which is one of the biggest challenges for diaspora SMEs, this guide provides information of useful statutory and private sector organisations whose functions may have implications for businesses operating in Nigeria. It provides case studies of some of the situations businesses frequently encounter and the strategies adopted to successfully overcome them. It concludes with tips and advice gleaned from the experience of AFFORD and its partners about operating successfully in Nigeria. There will be regular updates of ABC Guide to Doing Business in Nigeria.

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AFFORD Policy Brief: Blended Finance and Diaspora Investment 2019

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Attracting private capital to emerging or frontier markets in Africa poses significant challenges for governments, development finance institutions (DFIs), philanthropists, and private impact investors. It also opens up opportunities, given the increasing shift by investors towards funds that help meet environmental, social responsibility, and governance (ESG) concerns. Drawing in such private capital flows to unlock the estimated USD 331 billion needed for small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) growth in Africa, will be critical in meeting targets set in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

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Introduction to RemitAid?: Remittance Match Funding and Remittance Tax Relief

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Remittances have a number of economic and socio-political benefits relevant to development. We have analysed the range of direct, indirect, micro and macro-economic benefits, but have also identified the negative effects inherent in diaspora and migrant remittances. Consequently, we have designed a scheme (i.e. RemitAid™), which mitigates the negative impacts and structural imperfections, whilst optimising the positive impacts of remittances. RemitAid™ proposes that actual remittances sent to Less Developed Countries (LDCs) for activities falling within Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and charitable activities, should trigger government co-funding in OECD countries. The co-funding can be in the form of match funding and/or community (i.e. pooled) tax rebates – managed by a new agency RemitAid™ Development Fund (RDF). The funds shall be treated as endowment capital to generate income for grants and investment in diaspora and development activities in LDCs.

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Mitigating the Structural Imperfections and Negative Impacts of Remittances

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The World Bank reports that in 2005 remittances to developing countries sent through formal financial channels was about US$167 billion. A consensus has now emerged that remittances are an important form of international development finance. We argue that remittances are particularly important for sustainable development because the process involves self-help by people who originated from developing countries.

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