Diaspora Desk
Abike Dabiri To Host 4th Nigeria Diaspora Investment Summit
Preparations and arrangements are in full flight ahead of the 4th edition of the Nigeria Diaspora Investment Summit (NDIS) summit aimed towards exploring revenue creation through investors and immigrant entrepreneurs to Nigeria.
The Summit, themed “Partnership & Linkages For Post Covid Economic Growth” is slated to hold between November 16-17, with the aim of establishing a platform where Nigerians and Diaspora investors can interact with potential sponsors, partners, collaborators and government officials.
They parley will also feature discussions towards direct round table deals for mutual benefits for those looking to invest in Nigeria. Growth prospects from a wide range of industries will also be showcased.
The Chairman, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), Hon Abike Dabiri-Erewa will host the event while the Special Guest of Honour will be His Excellency, the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo.
The summit particularly aims towards providing the platform for prospective foreign and diaspora investors to confer and evaluate the prospects and potential risks involved in these investment opportunities.
Other persons of interest are financial intermediaries and stakeholders with an interest in the resurgence of diversification efforts.
Sectors of primary concern to be discussed at the Summit include: Healthcare, education, agriculture telecommunications, manufacturing and real estate.
Read Also: NiDCOM Says Over 5000 Diasporas to Participate in 2021 Investment Summit
Agriculture And Key Investment Sectors In Nigeria
The 4th edition of the Nigeria Diaspora Investment Summit comes in the wake of the government’s drive to double down on its move to provide support for the small business sector, agriculture, and unprecedented infrastructural development. The emphasis on these sectors follows its prospects vis-a-vis job creation and its overall contribution to the economy.
Consequently, diaspora investors will have the platform to assess how investing in these sectors will be beneficial in the short as well as in the long run.
Dr. Badewa T. Adejugbe-Williams, the Coordinator of the event has confirmed that over 400 companies have already signed up for the summit. Registration for the virtual summit can be done via https://ndis.gov.ng/register/
The summit, in large parts will echo as a fulfilment of the primary mandate of NiDCOM which is to engage the diaspora Nigerian community to leverage their wealth of talent and resources towards national development.
The Global Remittance Industry And The Nigerian Albatross
From observation, despite the economic challenges occasioned by the Covid pandemic in 2020, Foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows to Nigeria increased to $2.4 billion in 2020 from $2.3 recorded in 2019.
Available records also indicate that the global remittance industry was estimated at $682.60 billion in 2018, with the figure expected to hit $930.44 billion by 2026.
Also, a spike in cross-border transactions & mobile-based payment channels, cut down remittance cost & transfer time.
A continued tilt towards banking and financial services has not also been inconsequential to the growth of the global remittance market.
With the cataclysmic consequences wreaked by the Covid pandemic which continues to hamstring the economies of the richest and poorest countries of the world, remittance flows into low-income countries is expected to offer strong support to households and provide the much-needed tax revenue.
The key question in all of these is “how much of this massive global remittance will flow into Nigeria”? Particularly in view of the rising spate of insecurity, continued devaluation of the naira and the general lack of incentive for prospective foreign investors.
The Nigeria Diaspora Investment Summit therefore seeks to redress the optics that have negatively affected foreign investment into Nigeria and lay concrete framework for exploring the untapped wealth which is diaspora remittances.
According to Abike Dabiri: “the primary aim of this initiative is to demonstrate that at a time when competition for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is at its fiercest, targeting Nigerians in Diaspora for inward investment is probably the best strategy, particularly in the light of a heightened risk profile for the country.
“This is further corroborated by the fact that a number of first- and second-generation Nigerians in Diaspora are among a narrow but growing demographic band, experiencing increased wealth with more disposable incomes in the societies where they reside.”
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