Africa Diaspora Investment Week 2005- The Diaspora the Emerging Investors in Africa

Following the successful Africa Diaspora Investment Forum 2004 and an increasing call by African governments and the Diaspora to engage the Diaspora in investment activities in Africa. Africa Diaspora Investment week 2005 will provide a week of activities aimed at enhancing and enabling the Diaspora to further invest in Africa.

The Africans in the Diaspora merit increasing attention they are a source of investment funding, expertise and a confidence building measure of great importance. Financial flows from the Diaspora on average contribute 5-10% of some African countries Gross Domestic Product and in a few cases over 20%. In a year alone it is estimated that the Diaspora invest over US$ 450 million, this excludes the estimated US$ 12 billion remittances sent by the Diaspora annually.

There is an increasing desire by the Diaspora to increase their investment or start to invest in Africa. What is fundamentally crucial is mobilising the Diaspora interest, challenging perception, attracting diverse partnerships and creating the required infrastructure to enable the investment flows. Most policies currently address the large flows by organisation but fails to enable the many private flows by the Diaspora who are taking personal investments at their individual risk into Africa.

Africa Diaspora Investment week 2005 will aim to:

• Address the factors the challenges to Diaspora Investment in Africa at policy, institutional and operational activity
• Enable a Diaspora investment pathway across the globe
• Improve partnerships and links across the globe
• Facilitate service providers to engage successfully with their market in the Diaspora
• Provide a platform for networking
  

Areas of investment to be addressed:

• Telecommunications
• Tourism and Culture
• Real Estate
• Micro-small- medium sized business/Franchising
• Stock/Capital Market
• Transport
• Reconstruction and Development

The weeklong activities will attract over 3,000 from the Diaspora in Europe and beyond, Policy makers inside and outside Africa, privates and public sector inside and outside Africa, Donors, press both main stream and the Diaspora and many others.