By Enyichukwu Enemanna
At least 58% of Nigerians in Diaspora live outside the continent, while only about 42% are in Africa, the African Development Bank (AfDB) has revealed.
“From 320,000 people in 2000 to about one million in 2020. About 58 per cent of Nigeria’s diasporans live outside Africa, while 42 per cent live in Africa”, Chief Economist and Vice-President of the Economic Governance and Knowledge Management, AfDB Group, Kevin Urama stated.
Speaking in Abuja on ‘Diaspora Funding for Africa’s Development’ at the ‘Global African Diaspora Symposium on Building Stronger Connections between Africa and the Global Diaspora’ on Thursday, Urama further disclosed that Nigeria is one of the countries with large numbers of diasporans.
According to Urama, the Nigerian Diaspora living outside Africa has tripled between 2000 and 2020, stating that the largest African population ranks fourth among countries on the continent with the number of diasporans outside the continent.
“Nigeria ranks fourth among African countries with large numbers of diasporans outside the continent…the extra-continental Nigerian diaspora has tripled in two decades”, he noted.
Mr Urama said the African Union estimated that 70,000 skilled professionals emigrate from the continent annually, noting that in 2015, African-trained medical graduates practising in the U.S. reached 13,584.
He said, “The Mo Ibrahim Foundation assessment ‘Brain Drain: A bane for Africa’s potential’ found that in 2015, 86 per cent of all African-educated physicians working in the U.S. were trained in Egypt, Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa.”
The AfDB vice-president added, “A significantly large number of Africans in the diaspora are excelling in medicine, robotics, space engineering, nanotechnology, architecture, engineering, public policy, academia, IT and literature. Other fields where they excel include the media, sports, entertainment, the public domain of politics and the private sector in different parts of the world.”
There has not been a more fitting time than the present for the continent to unite, work together, and help build a formidable, dynamic and prosperous continent, Urama urged.
He declared, Development is a do-it-yourself (DIY) business. Africans should take the proverbial ‘bull by the horns; do what is right for Africa. By working together, we can build the Africa we want.”
Speaking on diaspora financing in supporting Africa’s development, he said that the African diasporans were invaluable assets for Africa’s development and their countries of residence worldwide.
Mr Urama listed key areas African diasporans could finance and support Africa’s development, including securitisation of remittances, diaspora bonds, trade and investment promotion, research, innovation, knowledge, technology transfer and brain circulation.
He said diaspora remittances to Africa had increased significantly over the past decade, from $53 billion in 2010 to about $100 billion in 2022.
According to him, the flow of remittances to African countries has remained stable and predictable, making it a formidable source of financing for African development.
Egypt, Nigeria, Morocco and Ghana alone accounted for almost 70 per cent of the total value of remittances in Africa in 2021, Urama noted.
