The High-Level Week of the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York provided an important platform for advancing discussions on how Africa can move beyond traditional remittance flows towards more structured, trusted and productive engagement with its global diaspora.
On 21 September 2026, the African Union Economic, Social and Cultural Council (AU-ECOSOCC), in collaboration with the INCLUDE Knowledge Platform and the Citizens and Diaspora Organizations Directorate (CIDO) of the African Union Commission, and in partnership with Code for Afrika, Future Perspectives, TrustAfrica, FAJ, Reform Initiative and Humanity United, convened a high-level Fireside Chat on Diaspora Capital and Development Finance under the theme “Harnessing Diaspora Resources for Africa’s Transformation and Inclusive Development.”
The dialogue brought together African Union institutions, Member State representatives, diaspora organisations, development partners, financial institutions, civil-society actors, academics, private-sector representatives and members of the historic African diaspora.
The discussion featured contributions from H.E. Professor Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, GCON, 14th Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; H.E. Mrs. Francisca Tatchouop Belobe of the African Union Commission’s Economic Development, Trade, Tourism, Industry and Minerals Department; Alhaji Baba Seidu Issifu, Ghana’s Minister of State for Climate Change and Sustainability; Mr. Louis Cheick Sissoko, Presiding Officer of AU-ECOSOCC; Senator James Sanders Jr., New York State Senator for the 10th District and Chair of the New York State Senate Committee on Banks; Dr. Anika Altaf, Executive Director of the INCLUDE Knowledge Platform; and other African Union, diaspora, civil-society and development actors.
The session was designed as an informal but solutions-oriented conversation aimed at moving from broad policy discussion towards practical implementation.
The New York discussion built directly on the Dialogue on “Unlocking Diaspora Capital for Africa’s Transformation” held on 24 July 2026 during the ECOSOCC Citizens’ Forum in Addis Ababa. The earlier engagement had identified trust, fragmented institutions, investor protection, weak coordination and limited implementation as major barriers preventing diaspora resources from being translated into larger-scale development investment.
At UNGA81, the conversation moved a step further. Rather than asking whether the African diaspora is willing to contribute to the continent, participants focused on how existing financial flows, professional expertise, knowledge, technology and networks could be connected more effectively to productive investment opportunities.
Setting the context, Victoria Manya, Knowledge Manager at the INCLUDE Knowledge Platform, highlighted the distinction between money already flowing to Africa and money being productively invested. “The 100 billion dollars a year moving is not the same as $100 billion a year working.”
She stressed that willingness among Africans abroad was not the missing ingredient. Diaspora communities already send significant resources home for education, health care, housing, household support and other needs. The challenge is that these flows are not automatically structured as long-term investment capital.
The central challenge, she argued, was therefore one of connection.
This framing was reinforced by Dr. Anika Altaf, Executive Director of the INCLUDE Knowledge Platform, who noted that the question is not whether African diaspora communities have the resources or willingness to invest.
Rather, the issue is how to convert strong existing connections between the diaspora and the continent into productive investment.
Dr. Altaf pointed to several practical questions that potential diaspora investors face: where to find credible investment opportunities, whom to trust, what rules apply, how cross-border investments can be managed and who can help investors navigate different national systems.
She argued that the greatest barrier is therefore not necessarily the absence of money but the absence of sufficiently connected infrastructure linking investors, institutions and credible opportunities.
Discussions beyond finance
Mr. Louis Cheick Sissoko, ECOSOCC’s Presiding Officer, emphasised that diaspora contributions should never be reduced to financial remittances alone. While remittances continue to support millions of African households, diaspora communities also contribute skills, expertise, knowledge, networks, mentorship, entrepreneurship and access to global markets.
His intervention reflected a recurring message throughout the dialogue: diaspora capital includes much more than money.
This perspective was reinforced by Ms. Kim Poole, Founder and Executive Director of the Teaching Artist Institute, who situated the discussion within the wider historical relationship between Africa and its historic diaspora.
She argued that diaspora engagement should also respond to questions of identity, belonging, restoration and reparatory justice.
“Culture is the new currency,” she told participants.
Her intervention emphasised that contemporary Africa–diaspora relationships should not reproduce purely transactional models but should contribute to rebuilding historical, cultural and emotional connections disrupted over generations.
Keynote address
The keynote address by H.E. Professor Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, GCON, 14th Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, brought the discussion directly to the proposed African-Diaspora Investment Corridor.
Professor Osinbajo emphasised that potential investors require a trusted pathway through which they can identify and invest in credible opportunities across African markets.
“They need a trusted corridor, a trusted investment corridor,” he said.
Using Nigeria’s 2017 diaspora bond as an example, he highlighted how familiar regulatory standards, disclosure requirements and investor confidence can help mobilise diaspora capital.
The bond raised US$300 million and attracted subscriptions above the amount offered, demonstrating the importance of credible institutional arrangements.
The central concept of the keynote, however, was that Africa does not necessarily require another institution.
Professor Osinbajo argued that important structures already exist, including CIDO, the African Institute for Remittances, the African Diaspora Finance Corporation, national investment agencies and national diaspora institutions.
What is missing is the mechanism that connects these structures.
“What was missing was never just another institution. What was missing was the connection, the gateway between the ones we already had.”
The proposed Corridor would therefore not replace existing institutions or assume their mandates. Instead, it would operate as a trusted entry point connecting national investment systems, verified opportunities, diaspora investors and financial institutions.
Professor Osinbajo described the challenge as one of interoperability, the ability of separate systems to work together. The solution would reduce the need for diaspora investors to begin from scratch every time they seek an opportunity in another African country.
Bringing a Member State and sustainable-development perspective to the discussion, Alhaji Baba Seidu Issifu, Ghana’s Minister of State for Climate Change and Sustainability, called for Africa’s engagement with its diaspora to move beyond remittances towards a modern development partnership based on trust, structured investment and shared prosperity.
He recognised the critical role remittances continue to play in supporting families, education, health care and household resilience, but argued that the diaspora represents a much wider pool of investment capital, professional expertise, technology, entrepreneurship, networks and global influence.
The Minister emphasised that the challenge is to move from individual transfers towards structured investment supported by credible institutions.
His intervention also cautioned against relying on patriotic or emotional attachment alone to mobilise investment. While these connections may encourage diaspora engagement, long-term investment requires confidence in institutions, transparency and credible returns.
For Ghana, he argued, diaspora investment is particularly relevant as African countries confront interconnected challenges including climate change, infrastructure deficits, unemployment and constrained development finance.
The Minister also emphasised that diaspora capital is not exclusively financial. African professionals abroad, possess knowledge and networks that can contribute directly to institutional development, technology transfer, entrepreneurship and African participation in global value chains.
He expressed support for the proposed African-Diaspora Investment Corridor as a potential bridge between credible African opportunities and diaspora resources, supported by clear national focal points, transparent project information, investor safeguards and accountability mechanisms and should contribute to inclusive development, including opportunities for young people, women-led enterprises, local innovators, farmers and communities rather than being concentrated only in major transactions and capital cities.
The Minister’s contribution reinforced a central message of the Fireside Chat: Africa should not relate to its diaspora only through remittances, but through a broader development partnership in which diaspora communities can both invest successfully and contribute to Africa’s transformation.
The Fireside chat also examined the importance of integrating diaspora investment more closely with national development planning.
Ms. Daphine Muzawazi, Principal Programme Officer and Head of the Institutional Strengthening, Governance and Social Inclusion Cluster at AUDA-NEPAD, observed that diaspora finance is still frequently treated as a separate or informal stream.
“We still view diaspora financing in silo,” she said.
She called for Member States to develop longer-term pipelines of bankable projects linked to national development priorities. These could include infrastructure, health, education, youth entrepreneurship, SMEs, skills development and the creative economy.
She also emphasised that diaspora communities should be part of the governance and design of the investment mechanisms being developed for them.
The wider panel also placed diaspora finance within Africa’s broader financing challenge.
Mr. Briggs Bomba, Programmes Director at TrustAfrica, argued that the conversation should focus not only on financing Africa’s development but on resourcing Africa’s development.
He emphasised the need to consider diaspora finance alongside domestic resource mobilisation, pension assets, insurance capital, private-sector investment, philanthropy and other sources of financing.
He also raised an important contradiction: Africa cannot focus only on attracting additional resources while significant amounts of capital continue to leave the continent through illicit financial flows.
“We will not be doing justice to the conversation if we look at only what’s coming into the continent and we don’t look at what the continent is losing or failing to retain.”
The discussion therefore widened from mobilising new investment towards improving Africa’s capacity to retain, manage and productively invest its existing resources.
Another major theme concerned the diversity of the African diaspora.
Ms. Semhar Araia, Founder of The Diaspora Academy, emphasised that diaspora communities are not a single, homogeneous constituency.
She highlighted differences across gender, geography and generation, noting that a first-generation migrant may have a very different relationship with Africa from a second- or third-generation diaspora member. Similarly, the economic circumstances and networks of diaspora communities vary significantly depending on where they live.
She argued that meaningful diaspora engagement therefore requires different approaches for different constituencies.
Young diaspora communities were highlighted as a particularly important group.
Participants noted that Gen Z and younger generations increasingly organise through digital networks, universities, cultural movements, entrepreneurship and professional associations.
Engagement strategies therefore need to reach younger generations through the platforms and networks they already use.
Women were also recognised as important investors, entrepreneurs and leaders whose participation should be reflected in both investment opportunities and future governance arrangements.
The role of embassies and diaspora organisations was another area of discussion.
Ms. Araia encouraged governments to strengthen the ability of diplomatic missions to engage diaspora communities and to invest in relationships with credible diaspora organisations, many of which perform significant community and bridge-building roles with limited institutional resources.
The discussion also brought the historic African diaspora more fully into the investment conversation.
Ms. Aisha Maina, Strategic Advisor to the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States Secretariat on Africa–Caribbean Cooperation, argued that the relationship should not be framed only around what the diaspora can contribute to Africa.
Africa must also ask what it can contribute to diaspora communities.
She called for a shift towards mutual and reciprocal development and highlighted emerging opportunities for stronger Africa–Caribbean investment, trade and enterprise partnerships.
Trust, she argued, is not built only through policy documents and institutions but also through direct human relationships.
“If I don’t meet you, I will not trust you. If I don’t see you, I will not trust you.”
The Africa–Caribbean discussion also highlighted practical barriers to deeper cooperation.
Ports, direct flights, logistics, trade infrastructure and financial connectivity remain important constraints.
The discussion therefore broadened the Corridor concept from investment facilitation alone towards wider questions of connectivity, mobility and reciprocal market access.
Small and medium-sized enterprises were also identified as important potential beneficiaries.
Participants cautioned against focusing only on large-ticket infrastructure projects, noting that smaller businesses, women-led enterprises, young entrepreneurs and creative-sector actors can also generate meaningful economic impact if connected to suitable investors and markets.
The meeting further highlighted the potential role of institutional investors in diaspora host countries.
Senator James Sanders Jr., New York State Senator for the 10th District and Chair of the New York State Senate Committee on Banks, drew attention to the scale of financial resources managed by New York State.
He noted that the state has a budget of approximately US$260 billion and pension funds approaching US$1 trillion, while having little or no direct investment exposure to Africa.
“We right now do not invest anywhere in Africa. How can this be?” he asked.
His intervention demonstrated the possibility of expanding the Corridor discussion beyond individual diaspora investors towards large institutional investors, provided that African markets can offer credible projects, transparency, predictable systems and appropriate safeguards.
The technical dialogue was moderated by Dr. Panashe Chigumadzi, PhD (Harvard University), Assistant Professor at Brandeis University, writer, historian and journalist, and Rapporteur for the African Union’s Committee of Experts on Reparations (AUCER).
Dr. Chigumadzi situated the discussion within the longer historical relationship between African-descended peoples, capital and financial systems.
She argued that diaspora finance cannot be separated from questions of political power, history and reparatory justice and invited participants to consider not simply whether diaspora capital can be mobilised, but the terms on which such mobilisation should take place.
Ambassador Amr Aljowaily, Director of CIDO, connected the emerging Corridor with the legacy of the 2012 Global African Diaspora Summit and stressed the importance of situating new initiatives within the African Union’s existing diaspora architecture.
He noted that the African Institute for Remittances is operational, while work on other legacy initiatives, including the African Diaspora Finance Corporation, continues.
This reinforced the wider principle that the proposed Corridor should complement existing institutions rather than duplicate them.
The closing reflections brought together several themes from the dialogue.
Dr. Ebrima Sall, Executive Director of TrustAfrica, highlighted the scale of Africa’s human and financial resources both on the continent and across its global diaspora.
He drew attention to the gap between Africa’s development-financing needs and the substantial pools of capital potentially available through pension funds, domestic resources and other sources.
The central challenge, he argued, is how to convert Africa’s human capital, financial resources, land and global networks into tangible development outcomes.
Dr. Chevy Eugene of Dalhousie University reflected on the links between reparations, Indigenous knowledge, youth, culture and the wider African diaspora. His intervention emphasised that the future of African investment and development should also be informed by African knowledge systems and the capacity of younger generations to imagine alternative futures.
By the end of the Fireside Chat, the proposed African-Diaspora Investment Corridor had emerged more clearly as a potential mechanism for connecting rather than replacing existing systems. The session also made clear that the Corridor remains a work in progress.
Professor Osinbajo acknowledged that the discussion had opened many new streams of thought and that broader participation would be required as the concept develops.
A stakeholder survey was announced to provide participants and other stakeholders, including those unable to speak during the discussions, with an additional opportunity to contribute their views to the design process.
The UNGA81 discussion therefore did not conclude the African-Diaspora Investment Corridor process. Instead, it marked an important transition from broad conceptual discussion towards institutional design, consultation and implementation planning.
The message connecting the Addis Ababa and New York engagements was ultimately simple: Africa already has diaspora commitment, financial flows, institutions, skills and opportunities.
The challenge is to connect them.
As the New York dialogue repeatedly emphasised:
“Connection.”
By advancing this discussion during UNGA81, ECOSOCC, INCLUDE and their partners reinforced a wider vision in which the African diaspora is not treated simply as a source of remittances, but as a strategic partner in investment, knowledge exchange, enterprise, innovation, sustainable development and Africa’s long-term transformation under Agenda 2063.
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