Theme: "leveraging the African diaspora for inclusive growth and sustainable development in Africa"
The 10th Global Community of Practice (G-CoP) Dialogue on Development Without Borders: Leveraging the African Diaspora for Inclusive Growth and Sustainable Development in Africa, was co-hosted by the African Development Bank Group (AfDB Group), the African Union Commission (AUC), International Organization for Migration (IOM), and African Continental Free Trade Area Secretariat (AfCFTA Secretariat), and in collaboration with several institutions on 01-02 December 2022, for the Western and Eastern hemispheres, respectively.
We, the Participants of the Summit:
ACKNOWLEDGE that the hundreds of millions of African emigrants and people of African descent living in all inhabited continents around the world constitute a significant asset for driving inclusive growth and sustainable development in Africa.
APPLAUD the African Development Bank Group, the AUC, IOM, AfCFTA Secretariat, and all the collaborating partner institutions and Diaspora organizations for working together to convene the timely and important inaugural Global Community of Practice Dialogue on the African Diaspora, with a focus on leveraging diaspora intellect, assets, skills, competencies, and networks for Africa's development.
COMMEND the leadership of Dr. Akinwumi A. Adesina, President of the African Development Bank; His Excellency Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairperson of the AUC; Mr. António Vitorino, Director General of IOM, and His Excellency, Mr. Wamkele Mene, Executive Secretary of the AfCFTA Secretariat for their unreserved support for the African Diaspora, demonstrated by their participation and keynote speeches at the Summit.
NOTE the five thematic areas discussed by the Summit, namely: (i) Securitization of Remittances; (ii) Diaspora Bonds; (iii) Trade and Investment Promotion; (iv) Research, Innovation, Knowledge, and Technology Transfer; and (v) Brain Circulation. These thematic areas constitute critical pathways for leveraging the African Diaspora for Africa's development. When harnessed and deployed, they could become a critical driver for inclusive growth and sustainable development in Africa, with mutual benefits and co-benefits to the African Diasporeans and their countries of residence.
CALL ON the African Development Bank Group, the AUC, IOM, and AfCFTA Secretariat to develop and launch a platform for continuous engagement with the African Diaspora and people of African descent. This should include, among other initiatives, the hosting of an annual global convening of the African diaspora dubbed "the African Diaspora Summit;" the creation of a Diaspora Center of Excellence in Africa for continuous dialogue and the development of innovative, measureable and impactful ways of leveraging the Diaspora for Africa's development. In addition, the AUC should consider holding a special Summit of African Heads of States and Governments on "The Global Africa: Leveraging the African Diaspora and people of African Descent for Inclusive Growth and Sustainable Development in Africa".
REQUEST the African Development Bank Group, the AUC, IOM, and AfCFTA Secretariat to further undertake the following specific actions:
1. Securitization of Remittances:
Build partnerships with other development finance institutions, foreign and domestic banks to develop innovative instruments to securitize diaspora remittances, reduce transaction costs, increase efficiencies, de-risk the remittance market, create crowdfunding platforms to pool diaspora resources, enhance the flow of remittances and channel same into productive investments that deliver desired social and economic development goals of countries across Africa.
Support the development and implementation of institutional capacity, and build interventions in African countries in all aspects of securitization of remittances, including legal frameworks, financial instruments, and risk mitigation.
2. Diaspora Bonds
Develop and launch inclusive diaspora bonds that will allow Africans in the Diaspora, people of African descent, and others to participate, irrespective of the size of investible funds.
Foster collaborations between countries to facilitate technical assistance and peer-to-peer experience sharing on the diaspora bond market and support efforts to deliver innovative financing solutions. This includes security index bonds, green bonds, social bonds, diaspora bonds, resources for infrastructure swaps, and securitization of future remittances for Africa's development.
Undertake a benchmark study to understand and address information asymmetry and highlight lessons learned in African countries.
Work with global institutions to design and implement appropriate reforms and economic incentives (such as tax incentives) in advanced economies to encourage African Diasporeans to proactively invest in Africa's development.
3. Trade and Investment Promotion
(a) Work with other partners to strengthen the African payment system and settlement schemes, to ease trade and investment flows within the continent.
(b) Develop an interoperable database and information platform to properly identify the African diaspora including the differentiated African diaspora communities and their businesses to inform the design of diaspora support programs in key sectors.
(c) Work with Diaspora organizations to mobilize and curate bankable projects sponsored by the African Diaspora for consideration by the Africa Investment Forum.
4. Research, Innovation, Knowledge, and Technology Transfer
Develop and launch a $100 billion Knowledge and Capacity Development Fund for Africa (KCDF) to support African research, innovation, knowledge, and technology development institutions, and enhance knowledge/technology transfer between African institutions and their peers globally.
Work with all relevant stakeholders to create a robust database and profile of African experts in the Diaspora and launch initiatives to encourage and facilitate their active engagement in research, innovation, knowledge generation and technology development/transfer among African institutions and their peers globally based on their qualifications, expertise, competences, areas of specialization, etc.
Work with the World Health Organization (WHO) to create a Diaspora Connect Program (DCP) focused on mobilizing diaspora investments in quality health infrastructure and pharmaceutical industries in Africa.
Support African Countries to develop National Science Foundations to advance the progress of quality research, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education, broad-based innovation, and technology transfer within Africa and globally.
5. Brain Circulation
Support the creation of an interactive database of the African Diaspora: including countries of residence, institutions of affiliation, qualifications, skills, and competencies as well as areas of interest; and develop e-platforms to facilitate diaspora engagement in quality research, STEM education broad-based innovation, and technology transfer between Africa and their countries of residence.
Operationalize the African Union Decision EX.CL/383(XII) recognizing the African Diaspora and people of African descent as the 6th region of Africa.
Establish and convene an African Diaspora Community of Practice (AD-CoP), including academia, public and private sector actors, and civil society, as part of the African Development Bank's Global Community of Practice (G-CoP) program.
CALL on African Governments to:
Establish Ministries of the Diaspora and appoint Liaison Staff in their Embassies to foster Diaspora engagement in the design and implementation of development policies, programs, and projects in countries.
Implement appropriate policy reforms to de-risk investments, improve transparency and accountability and enhance the business environment in their economies to encourage investment flows into Africa.
Create National Science Foundations to advance the progress of knowledge of science, innovation, and technology in countries
Work with countries of residence of African Diasporeans to provide tax incentives that may include tax rebates or exemptions for diaspora remittances to encourage increased remittances flows.
Establish protocols for efficient and effective utilization of proceeds from diaspora bonds for productive investments to drive inclusive growth and sustainable development in African countries.
Work with regional institutions to create a new intra-Africa talent mobility program to foster stronger regional integration across countries.
CALL on African Diasporeans to:
Continue to be Ambassadors of Africa's development in their countries of residence, proactively promotefinancial and investment flows through remittances, diaspora bonds, public-private partnerships, trade, and investment promotion, knowledge and technology transfers through innovation and technology sharing, research partnerships and collaborations, and brain circulation.
Be a key driving force for forging a global Africa - a truly inclusive and integrated Africa beyond geographical borders that is central to achieving a global Africa that speaks and acts in unison for Africa's development.
Work with the African Development Bank Group to accelerate the process of designing and launching innovative instruments to securitize and scale remittances, diaspora bonds, and resource the KCDF.
Actively participate in the political governance processes in Africa and in their countries of residence to represent African values, culture, and development aspirations in law-making, and public policy at home and abroad.
Support the creation of a Science and Research Foundation for Africa to advance the progress of scientific knowledge, innovation, and technology transfer in line with the vision of the Knowledge and Capacity Development Find for Africa.
