12 °c
London
Saturday, August 13, 2022
No Result
View All Result
FurtherAfrica
  • Countries
    • Angola
    • Botswana
    • Cape Verde
    • DRC
    • Eswatini
    • Ethiopia
    • Kenya
    • Malawi
    • Mauritius
    • Mozambique
    • Namibia
    • Nigeria
    • Rwanda
    • South Africa
    • Tanzania
    • Uganda
    • Zambia
    • Zimbabwe
  • Interviews
  • Understanding
  • Videos
  • Travel
  • Weekend
  • About
FurtherAfrica
  • Countries
    • Angola
    • Botswana
    • Cape Verde
    • DRC
    • Eswatini
    • Ethiopia
    • Kenya
    • Malawi
    • Mauritius
    • Mozambique
    • Namibia
    • Nigeria
    • Rwanda
    • South Africa
    • Tanzania
    • Uganda
    • Zambia
    • Zimbabwe
  • Interviews
  • Understanding
  • Videos
  • Travel
  • Weekend
  • About
No Result
View All Result
FurtherAfrica
No Result
View All Result
Home Africa

How Africa can learn from Ghana in attracting diaspora remittances

FurtherAfrica by FurtherAfrica
June 10, 2019
in Africa, Banking, Economy, Finance, Ghana
Reading Time: 3 mins read
1.2k 24
0
A blockchain tour of Africa
Share via QRWhatsappShare on FacebookShare on TwitterLinkedInPinteresteMail

Ghana has embarked on a plan to galvanize members of the Ghanaian diaspora and encourage them to bring home to Ghana their financial and human resources, locked up throughout the world, to accelerate nation building.

Africa has had a dark past and specifically the four century long blot of human slavery climaxing in the 17th and 18th century. However, some of the descendants of the slaves have gone on to make great businessmen with great influence in the world.

Ghana has realized the potential such a group of people pose to the African economy and has launched several drives to make the African Diaspora return to the continent and invest in projects of their choice.

The Ghana Diaspora Celebration & Homecoming Summit 2019 (GDHS’19) is a four-day event recognizing and celebrating the immense contributions to nation building by the Ghanaian Diaspora.

The event will not only highlight past contributions but will focus on present contributions as well, whiles furthering the advocacy for political, economic, and all other systems and policies that would facilitate future contributions by the Ghanaian Diaspora.

Ghana’s president Nana Akufo-Addo in October last year declared 2019 as “The Year of Return” which marks 400 years since the first recorded case of slave trade happened between Africa and America. The madness continued for almost four centuries displacing millions of able bodied Africans.

Ghana and African Union have had their voices on how they can use the people of African origin spread through out the world for investment and development in Africa. AU holds a department of diaspora affairs which is consistently engaging the diaspora community to contribute more for African development.

In 2007, in its 50th year of independence, the government initiated the Joseph Project to commemorate 200 years since the abolition of slavery and to encourage Africans abroad to return.

Similar to Israel’s policy of reaching out to Jews across Europe and beyond following the Holocaust, the Joseph Project is named for the Biblical Joseph who was sold into slavery in Egypt but would later reunite with his family and rule Egypt.

But it is not just influential descendants of African slavery that are being lured back. Ghana has actively sought Africans immigrants who left the continent on the onset of independence and have not returned.

African countries, including those in North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa, have over 30 million international migrants. The size of the African diaspora, including unrecorded migrants and second- and third-generation migrants, is significantly larger.

Migrant remittances to Africa exceeded US$40 billion in 2010, providing a lifeline to the poor in many African countries. The potential contribution of the diaspora to the continent’s development goes much beyond personal remittances. Those contributions range from collective remittances that assist in philanthropic activities to knowledge exchange, increased trade links, and better access to foreign capital markets.

It is estimated that the African diasporas save US$53 billion annually, most of which is currently invested outside Africa and which could potentially be mobilized for Africa via instruments such as diaspora bonds.

East African countries received $17.38 billion from their citizens living abroad between 2013 and 2018, as foreign remittances outpaced foreign direct investment.

According to a World Bank brief, during the period, Kenya topped the region as the biggest beneficiary of remittances, receiving $10.74 billion, followed by Uganda ($6.28 billion), South Sudan ($2.85 billion), Tanzania ($2.39 billion), Rwanda ($1.13 billion) and Burundi ($257 million).

It gets even more interesting for some countries like Somalia, where a quarter of GDP comes from remittances.

According to a recent survey conducted by small business financing company Guidant Financial and online credit marketplace LendingClub Corporation, African American businesses grew by more than 400% in 2018 as compared to 2017. The survey also found that 38% of African American businesses are female-owned.

The continent can learn from what Ghana is doing in managing the hopes and expectations of Africans in the diaspora to be involved in development. For example, Kenya has been in talks with US investors in Mobilising Institutional Investors to Develop Africa’s Infrastructure (MiDA) programme as part of its commitment to catalyze the flow of private investment into Africa.

MiDA is an investment programme launched in 2016 by the National Association of Securities Professionals (NASP) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) which exposes US institutional investors to the opportunities in Africa’s infrastructure sector.

Recently, a Nigerian state official was quoted in the media saying Nigeria expects $3 billion in investment funding from citizens living mainly in the U.S. to support the agriculture, power, mining and transportation sectors.

This, through proper planning can draw more African American businesses that can help Africa achieve its economic and infrastructural development.

Source: The Exchange

Related

Tags: African DiasporaAfrican Uniondiaspora remittancesGhanaGhanaian diasporaMiDAMigrant remittanceMobilising Institutional Investors to Develop Africa’s InfrastructureNana Akufo-AddoThe Year of ReturnWorld Bankганаغاناガーナ加纳
ScanSendShare489Tweet306Share86Pin110Send
FurtherAfrica

FurtherAfrica

Founded in 2015 FurtherAfrica is an online platform centralising news and content focusing on the development and growth story of the African continent.

Related Posts

Culture

Meet 3 Richest African Immigrants in the US Millionaires Club

by See Africa Today
August 13, 2022
Culture

7 Africa’s Longest Serving Presidents

by See Africa Today
August 13, 2022
Economy

Mozambique’s 22% tax cuts among 20 measures for economic acceleration

by The Exchange
August 13, 2022
Tech

NFTs and blockchain crucial in concept of an African Metaverse

by Web3Africa
August 13, 2022
The new currency notes in Ethiopia
Finance

Development Bank of Ethiopia to provide 10 Billion Birr loan for SMEs

by FurtherAfrica
August 12, 2022
Angola Oil & Gas 2022
 
AFSIC 2022
 
Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park
 
MozParks

Translate this page

Read the Latest

Culture

Meet 3 Richest African Immigrants in the US Millionaires Club

by See Africa Today
August 13, 2022
0

The US is always a top choice for immigrants, and it remains unchanged for decades, giving existence to the richest...

Read more

7 Africa’s Longest Serving Presidents

August 13, 2022

Mozambique’s 22% tax cuts among 20 measures for economic acceleration

August 13, 2022

NFTs and blockchain crucial in concept of an African Metaverse

August 13, 2022
The new currency notes in Ethiopia

Development Bank of Ethiopia to provide 10 Billion Birr loan for SMEs

August 12, 2022

FurtherAfrica Partners Network

The Exchange Club of Mozambique Taarifa Rwanda
TechGist Africa Africa Oil & Power Farmers Review Africa
Tanzania Invest Zambia Invest See Africa Today
Africa Global Funds Novafrica CrudeMix Africa
Harambee Africa Botswana unplugged Financial Insights Zambia
Digilogic Africa Web3Africa

Subscribe to FurtherAfrica

Enter your email address to receive new articles on your email.

Join 99,392 other subscribers.

FurtherAfrica

© 2021 FurtherMarkets

FurtherAfrica is a FurtherMarkets Limited platform

  • Countries
  • Interviews
  • Understanding
  • Videos
  • Travel
  • Weekend
  • About

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Countries
    • Angola
    • Botswana
    • Cape Verde
    • DRC
    • Eswatini
    • Ethiopia
    • Kenya
    • Malawi
    • Mauritius
    • Mozambique
    • Namibia
    • Nigeria
    • Rwanda
    • South Africa
    • Tanzania
    • Uganda
    • Zambia
    • Zimbabwe
  • Interviews
  • Understanding
  • Videos
  • Travel
  • Weekend
  • About

© 2021 FurtherMarkets

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.
Are you sure want to unlock this post?
Unlock left : 0
Are you sure want to cancel subscription?
 

Loading Comments...