Diaspora Investment and Entrepreneurship

The program intends to foster linkages between migration issues and private sector development, with a specific focus on financial services. Until now, many activities to foster diaspora investment in CoO have focused on capacity building of relevant state institutions and non financial services for migrant entrepreneurs. A major component of this programme is dedicated support the development of financial services that take into account the needs and specificities of diaspora members (remittances transfer, access to loans, savings products).

• Launched to address a specific and pressing need to enhance retention of newcomers, this program provides newcomers with information, advice, and contacts with the local business community.

• Specifically, this initiative focuses on the provision of information and effective connections to the business community that will lead to the establishment of new businesses and the successful settlement of client newcomer entrepreneurs and their families.

• Funded by Ontario’s joint Ministry of Economic Development, Trade and Employment / Ministry of Research and Innovation, ONE is a regional network of 90 centres across Ontario that provide in-person and online advice, referrals, programs, funds, resource materials, training and connections for people who want to start and grow successful businesses.

Eritrean women, including those still in immigration processes and abroad are invited and welcomed to join Eritrean diaspora organizations, such as women associations.  Diaspora women associations have contributed greatly to the establishment of institutions that aim to empower women in Eritrea. They have collected money and financed the construction of office buildings in several areas in Eritrea intended for women and their development through training, job offers, counseling, and assistance.

IOM's MIDA program, launched in 2001 and operating in eleven African countries, supports the short or longer term (or virtual) return of expatriate skills to key sectors. In each country, a multi-sectoral MIDA Steering Committee is set up, with the aim of greater coherence within the governments. The networks of participants strengthen interactions between origin and destination countries, which may stimulate further returns and development projects involving diaspora and/or the productive use of remittances.

The Malian government implements Diaspora fora to connect and build confidence with its diaspora. The first Diaspora Forum in 2003 was the opportunity to discuss three topics:

Established on 6th March 2007 by Vodafone's Kenyan associate, Safaricom, M-Pesa (M for mobile, pesa is Swahili for money) is Africa's leading mobile money service, which operates in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Mozambique and Tanzania.

In the Dominican Republic, Quisqueyana, Mercantil, and Visa International produced a product called Cashpin, the only card product in the Dominican remittance marketplace.  Cashpin is a rechargeable debit card, hand-delivered in the traditional way. Once the sender sets up the account, the card need only be activated by the receiver by phone. Value can be increased by both the sender and the receiver. The card is usable anywhere in the local or international Visa Electron network, as well as on the domestic ATH network. 

In the Dominican Republic, commercial bank Banco Popular Dominicano (BPD) partners with MoneyGram to distribute products through branches and ATMs. Banco Popular Dominicano (BPD), the largest bank in the Dominican Republic, with approximately 30% of the market, formed a joint-venture with MoneyGram to link remittances with banking products, equip its automatic teller machines (ATMs) to process money transfers, and link transfers to its payment services.

RuralNet, a cooperative venture of rural banks, has been established to provide interconnectivity between rural banks and other players in the formal remittance market in the Philippines. This is seen to potentially address the "unbanked problem". 

To do this, RuralNet offers services including:

• Online payments to government services
• Bills payment
• Loading to a mobile
• Remittance services
• Flight bookings
• Insurance