Almaz Negash has built up one of the most respected ''It is so important to get them to the place they need to be to build up their businesses and their revenues to realise the Development of Africa.''
The Diaspora is one of the most generous and sacrificial, sending $40bn in revenues, 3 x more that what Africa gets from Aid and Foreign Direct Investments. As such it is imperative for African Governments to be more intentional and work more closely with the Diaspora community.
Silicon Valley is very much growing in investing in Africa and ADN has worked to build bridges between Africa and Friends of Africa.
Building relationships leads to trust and then action.
Diaspora Bonds are another option that Almaz talks about the Eritrean post-war effort to rebuild the country. The fact that they did this in 1998, this is a great example of what the Diaspora can do to supplement the development efforts of Governement. Alot of countries have attempted this route.
The other options include real estate, SMEs, agriculture - the kind of investment needed 60% of the population works in the sector - as such there are alot of Diaspora opportunities in that entire Supply Chain.
The culture of dependency needs to be broken and we must focus on empowering more to create sustainable businesses. Remittances should go towards viable business models and Diasporans should enable more Africans to sustain themselves.
Blended Funding is the way to go. Grants will get you off the ground but once you have refined your proposition and plans, you can then seek out new private investment to help you sustain and grow the business.
Corporate Partnerships - integrated partnerships, ecosystem building and dealing with some of the deficienies. This is a way to tap into external, open innovation and to boost corporations' merger and acquisition prospects.
Governments could give tax free investment for Disaporans changing the remittance culture to investment partners.
African Diapsora Post Covid Investment Symposium: Dr James Mwangi (Equity) focussed on Public Private Partnership which is critical to our Development. Access to opportunities and investment in SMEs: what kind of investment - grants, impact investment etc. There is a need for broader ecosystem development and support for Diaspora to invest. Take advantage of Free Trade and open migration.
''I see hope. change will take time but we do have some strong African eosystems that are accountable, transparent, capable.''
