Washington, DC — The images coming out of South Africa are hard to ignore: Black immigrants, many of them Nigerians, harassed, displaced and, in some cases, violently driven from their communities. The scenes demand condemnation. But they also demand something more difficult and far more consequential: leadership, and specifically, demand regional responsibility.
At the very moment Nigerian microentrepreneurs are being targeted and pushed out of local economies, another story is unfolding. Speaking at a recent investment forum, Aliko Dangote indicated that his company is prepared to replicate the scale of its Lagos-based refinery across the continent if governments provide the right conditions. "I can give commitment to the presidents here today that if they support the refinery, we will build the identical one that we have in Nigeria, a 650,000 barrels-per-day refinery," he said. That level of industrial ambition is rare anywhere in the world, let alone across Africa.
Nigeria has the opportunity to position itself as a hub for African enterprise, talent and innovation.
This contrast is instructive. It reveals a country operating at two powerful ends of the economic spectrum: informal, community-based enterprise and world-scale industrial investment. This combination points to a defining truth: Nigeria's greatest and most underleveraged superpower is its entrepreneurial spirit. This crisis should awaken the country to that reality.
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The rhetoric often driving xenophobic tensions this is, "foreigners are taking our jobs". This tension reflects something more specific: competition within the ecosystem of community wealth creation. Nigerian migrants have built a reputation across the continent as highly adaptive microentrepreneurs as traders, service providers and small business owners who create value quickly and embed themselves into local markets. Rather than viewing this solely as external hostility, Nigeria must also look inward. Why do so many of its entrepreneurs seek opportunity abroad? What regulatory, financial or structural barriers make it easier to build businesses outside Nigeria than within it?
Globally, small and medium-sized enterprises account for roughly 90 percent of businesses and more than half of employment. In Nigeria, that sector is even more central, yet often constrained by inconsistent regulation, limited access to capital and infrastructure gaps. If Nigerian entrepreneurs can thrive across borders, the issue is not capacity. It is environment.
A crisis, after all, is a terrible thing to waste.
Nigeria should begin with a targeted resettlement and reintegration program for its citizens affected by xenophobic violence. Returning home should not mean starting over in uncertainty. It should mean stepping into structured opportunity, through relocation support, transitional housing and pathways into employment or enterprise. More importantly, it means recognizing returnees as economic assets, bringing skills, networks and resilience that can be reinvested into the local economy.
Second, Nigeria must take a hard look at its small business strategy and retool it for global competitiveness. Micro, small and medium enterprises should not merely survive, they should be export-ready. This requires modernizing regulatory frameworks, expanding access to financing and reducing friction for business formation and growth. If Nigerian entrepreneurs can scale across Africa informally, they should be able to scale formally from within Nigeria.
Nigeria's 4D foreign policy strategy must also more deliberately integrate its diaspora. A next-generation diaspora framework should include African-focused trade missions, government-backed partnerships and structured pathways for cross-border enterprise. At a time when intra-African trade is gaining urgency, this moment presents an opportunity to pivot toward a more outward-looking model of growth.
Finally, Nigeria should move beyond reactive diplomacy and develop a comprehensive immigration strategy that attracts talent into the country. The world's most competitive economies do not resist migration; they design systems to harness it. In the United States, employment-based visas such as the H-1B and EB 1-5 categories are used intentionally to attract skilled talent and investment.
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The United Kingdom has taken a similar approach with its Global Talent visa. These models underscore a broader point: countries that win economically are those that compete for people, not push them away. Nigeria can do the same by creating clear residency pathways, investor-friendly migration policies and incentives for skilled and entrepreneurial Africans to build within its borders.
For years, South Africa has served as a primary destination for African migrants. But this moment of instability creates openings for new leadership. Nigeria now has the opportunity to position itself as a hub for African enterprise, talent and innovation.
Gbenga Ogunjimi is the Executive Director of the Nigerian Center, a Washington, D.C.-based civic institution advancing immigrant justice, economic inclusion and cultural engagement. He is a fellow of the U.S. State Department's Global Leaders – African Descent Social Entrepreneurship Program and an adjunct professor at the University of the District of Columbia.
