The Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Abuja Investments Company Limited (AICL), Her Excellency, Ambassador Maureen Tamuno, has known as for stronger partnerships between Africa and its diaspora to speed up funding, facilitate abilities switch, create jobs and promote sustainable financial improvement throughout the continent.
Tamuno made the decision on Thursday whereas delivering the keynote handle on the seventh Diaspora Africa Conference, held on the Afreximbank Africa Trade Centre, Abuja, below the theme, ‘Homecoming: Bridging the Divide from Diaspora to Africa’s Future’.
She mentioned homecoming ought to transcend reconnecting with ancestral roots to constructing lasting relationships by way of productive investments, data change, enterprise improvement and initiatives able to enhancing livelihoods.
Drawing on her expertise as Nigeria’s former High Commissioner to Jamaica, with concurrent accreditation to Haiti, Belize and the Dominican Republic, Tamuno pressured that diaspora engagement ought to lengthen past monetary remittances to incorporate skilled experience, worldwide networks, entrepreneurship and expertise switch.
She recognized belief, capital, abilities, id and coverage as 5 important bridges required to strengthen collaboration between Africans at house and overseas.
According to her, transparency, accountability and dependable establishments are important to attracting diaspora investments. She urged governments to make funding data accessible, digitise public programs and be certain that transactions are clear and independently verifiable.
“Patriotism should inspire an investment; it must never replace due diligence. Shared ancestry does not guarantee financial return,” she mentioned, advocating structured investments backed by clear agreements, correct documentation and efficient accountability mechanisms.
The AICL chief govt highlighted funding alternatives throughout the corporate’s portfolio, together with actual property, markets, public infrastructure, transportation, leisure and the inventive financial system. She invited diaspora entrepreneurs, traders and establishments to discover mutually helpful partnerships with AICL to unlock alternatives throughout the Federal Capital Territory.
She additionally advocated a shift from the standard emphasis on remittances for consumption in the direction of structured investments that generate monetary returns whereas delivering social and financial advantages.
Tamuno known as for stronger collaboration in skilled coaching, analysis, expertise and enterprise improvement, noting that diaspora professionals may contribute by way of mentoring, data change and partnerships with out essentially relocating completely to Nigeria.
She additional pressured the significance of together with ladies, younger folks and individuals with disabilities in funding alternatives, management, technical coaching and enterprise possession, saying Africa’s improvement should present inclusive alternatives for all.
To translate the convention’s resolutions into measurable outcomes, Tamuno proposed a Homecoming Partnership Compact to trace progress over the following 12 months. The proposed framework would monitor partnerships established, enterprises supported, folks skilled and jobs sustained.
She mentioned the success of diaspora engagement ought to be measured not by bulletins and guarantees alone, however by functioning companies, accountable investments and tangible enhancements in folks’s lives.
Tamuno urged Africans at house and overseas to embrace shared duty in constructing a affluent continent, stressing that belief, mutual respect and sustained collaboration had been important to creating an Africa that future generations could be proud to name house.
“Let this seventh edition mark a movement from recognition to relationship, from relationship to responsibility, and from responsibility to results.We cannot undo the journeys that divided us. But we can choose the partnerships that shape our future.” she added.
