Diaspora Investment and Entrepreneurship

The Government of Kenya and IOM released in 2017 a guide for diaspora remittances and investments in the country.

The Support Fund for Investments of Senegalese Abroad (Fonds d’appui à l’investissement des Sénégalais de l’extérieur – FAISE) aims to promote productive investments in Senegal by citizens living overseas with the long-term objective of encouraging their voluntary return to the country.

The Philippine Development Plan (2011–2016) explicitly noted the need to promote financial inclusion and facilitate remittances domestically and from abroad. 

In its national development plan 2013-2018 the Mexican government established as the fifth national goal (Mexico with Global Responsibility) to implement strategies and actions for social integration and financial education for Mexican nationals living abroad. This is the mandate of the Institute for Mexicans Abroad (IME).

The Government of Lebanon holds annual conferences for diaspora focused on investment opportunities and incentives in the country.

At the same time, the government of Lebanon holds conferences abroad targeting the Lebanese diaspora on various topics, to provide and talk about investment opportunities in Lebanon. The most recent one was held in France and focused on Energy.

The German price comparison portal ‘www.GeldtransFAIR.de’, which obtained World Bank certification in 2014, is currently being redesigned to make it more user-friendly. The new website (including a mobile version) is to be launched in 2018.

Since the G20 Summit of 2015, France has adopted a National Plan on Remittances which seeks to: (i) facilitate remittances by reducing their costs; (ii) maximizing the value of remittances by orientating them towards sustainable and growth-generating projects; (iii) improve its knowledge of remittances fluxes to develop a better understanding of migrants’ needs. The improvement of migrants’ access to financial products and services was already one of the axes of a law adopted in 2014.

The government of El Salvador, through the experience of linking migration with development seeks a productive, economic, social and cultural integration of migrants and their families; as well as the guarantee of their economic, social and cultural rights. 

The Government of Nigeria is currently focusing on creating an enabling environment for the Nigerian diaspora to contribute to national development on the understanding that the diaspora can only make meaningful contributions to national development when the favourable conditions are put in place. On 30 June 2017, Nigerian Government signed the Nigerian Citizens in Diaspora Commission Establishment Bill 2017. The Commission has the responsibility to coordinate and organise Nigerians in and from the diaspora to contribute human capital and material resources, includi

The objectives of the project is to support the government in its efforts to mobilize Togolese diaspora for the development of Togo and is implemented by the NGO MARS.  MARS organized information and awareness-raising workshops with state actors of development and civil society actors, to adhere to the project. MARS implemented a database of Togolese living in Germany, France, Benin and Ghana, and finance and accompanied five projects of migrants.