GADS is a strategic engagement and collaboration with Diaspora networks around the world, through the platform of the African Union (AU), and the Africa Diaspora Alliance (AFDA) including the United States of America, the Caribbean, Brazil, Canada, Guyana, Fiji, Trinidad, Australasia, Europe and the ‘Diaspora in Africa’, which included those who have repatriated back to the Continent, as well as those who reside, work and/or operate businesses in countries other than their own.
African Diaspora now plays a very important role in the economic development of their home countries. Other than sending remittances to their countries of origin, the African Diaspora also promote trade and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), create businesses and encourage entrepreneurship and transfer of new knowledge and skills as they have been important participants in the transfer of new knowledge and skills. Now, the African Diaspora are increasingly seen as positive actors; countrymen and women abroad who can contribute to the development efforts in their homelands and the African continent.
The African Union Commission through its Economic, Social & Cultural Council (ECOSOCC) and Citizens and Diaspora Directorate (CIDO) has instituted a program of Regional Consultative Conferences (RCCs) as a vehicle to enable the African Union to consult with the various Diaspora stakeholders around the world to give practical meaning to the designation of the African Diaspora as the 6th Region of the Continent. This aligns with the fifth aspiration of Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want, which is Africa with a strong cultural identity, common heritage, values, and ethics, having as its 16th goal, African Cultural Renaissance is pre-eminent, and the priority areas of Values and ideals of Pan-Africanism; Cultural Values and African Renaissance; and Cultural Heritage, Creative Arts, and Business.
Furthermore, the Organization of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) brings together 79 Member States and their respective Diaspora. The 10th Summit of OACPS Heads of State and Government which was held in Luanda, Republic of Angola, hosted the 1st OACPS Diaspora Forum on 7th December 2022. The Diaspora Forum was chaired by the Honourable Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Chief Executive Officer of NiDCOM and OACPS Champion for the Diaspora. The Forum also launched the OACPS Diaspora Engagement Platform, officially.
The Abuja Symposium seeks to foster new connections for a stronger Global African Diaspora partnership and commemorate the International Decade for People of African Descent (IDPAD) in September 2018 in Accra and Cape Coast, Ghana. The Symposium provides the opportunity for Africa to engage with the African Diaspora and build upon the first African Diaspora Symposium (ADS-2020), which was held in Nairobi, Kenya in December 2020, as well as the 1st Organization of African, Caribbean, and Pacific States (OACPS) Diaspora Forum hosted at the 10th Summit of OACPS Heads of State and Government, on December 7, 2022, in Luanda, Republic of Angola
The Symposium is designed to address and proffer workable solutions to Africa’s most pressing issues and offer concrete strategies as well as necessary partnerships between key Diaspora leaders in business and the professions with leaders on the African continent to achieve successful results. The Symposium seeks to create an interface between Africa and its Diaspora to maximize partnership and collaboration.
The Global African Diaspora Symposium (GADS)Abuja 2023 will allow eminent representatives of the Diaspora to engage in a constructive dialogue aiming at the implementation of effective policies and programs that will advance the contribution of the Diaspora to Africa’s economic and social development. It is thus expected to bring together global representatives and participants from Africa and all regions of the world where people of African descent are found, including the Americas, Caribbean, Europe, Asia, and Oceania with an anticipated audience of about five hundred (500) individuals, businesses, government leaders, civil societies, and political institutions such as the AU, OACPS, CARICOM, and the UN. GADS Africa 2023 will provide participants an interactive front-row seat in building strategic partnerships between the Diaspora and Africa with countless opportunities to network, meet new partners and achieve business and professional goals.
The Symposium will address various sub-themes aimed at promoting South-South and Triangular exchanges on Diaspora engagement policies and practices, and create a framework for the implementation of international commitments related to the contribution of the Diaspora to development such as the IOM Dublin Declaration and the African Union Agenda 2063 and the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)Â It is also expected to contribute to raising the profile, voices and visibility of Diaspora practitioners in the development community circles of participating organizations, countries, and regions.
Evolved from the ACP Group, founded via the Georgetown Agreement in 1975. It comprises 79 African, Caribbean, and Pacific States. The main goals of the OACPS center around the sustainable development of its Members and their gradual integration into the global economy with the ultimate objective of reducing and eventually eradicating poverty; coordination of OACPS activities in the framework of the implementation of the existing Partnership Agreement with the European Union; consolidation of unity and solidarity among Members of the OACPS; the promotion of multilateralism; the establishment and strengthening of peace, security, and stability in free and democratic societies; and the empowerment of Youth and Women
Enacted by the National Assembly for the Federal Republic of Nigeria
Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, provide for the engagement of Nigerians in Diaspora in the policies, projects, and participation in the development of Nigeria and for the purpose of utilizing the human capital and material resources of Nigerians in Diaspora towards the overall socio-economic, cultural, and political development of Nigeria and for related matters.
In recognition of the vital role technology transfer plays in development, the Directorate of Technical Cooperation in Africa (DTCA) was established by the administration of His Excellency, President Olusegun Obasanjo GCFR, in 2001 under the then Ministry of Cooperation and Integration in Africa (MCIA), to serve as a catalyst for bridging the widening developmental gap between Africa and the rest of the world. To actualize this, the Nigeria Technical Cooperation Fund (NTCF) was also created from the corpus of the Nigerian Trust Fund (NTF), at the African Development Bank (AfDB), to provide the necessary financial resources to promote and encourage, among others, an effective Scientific and Technical Exchange Programme (STEP) between Nigeria and other African countries
The establishment of the Directorate of Technical Cooperation in Africa (DTCA), the first and only one of its kind in Africa, is the Federal Government of Nigeria’s proactive drive to actualize the vision of African leaders for the development of the continent as enunciated in the ‘Inter-African Convention Establishing an African Technical Cooperation Programme’.
The basic mandate of the DTCA is to attract African Experts both at home and in the Diaspora to enhance Africa’s development by creating an enabling environment and opportunity for professionals in Nigeria and indeed, all those of African descent to invest their immense intellect, expertise, and skills into the economies of Africa.
The African Diaspora Alliance (AfDA) Inc. has established strategic engagement and collaboration with Diaspora networks around the world, including the United States of America, the Caribbean, Brazil, Canada, Guyana, Fiji, Trinidad, Australasia, Europe and the ‘Diaspora in Africa’, which included those who repatriated back to the Continent, as well as those who reside, work and/or operate businesses in countries other than their own. African Diaspora Alliance (AfDA) is championing Pan-African initiatives across the world to congregate, exchange on and build a Pan-Africanism for the future. These initiatives include: the Pan-African vision of the African Union (AU) Agenda 2063 and the provision for the African Diaspora as the 6th region of the AU; the increasing collaboration between the AU and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM); CARICOM`s call for reparatory justice; the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movements across the world; and the UN International Decade for People of African Descent 2015-2024. To advance these initiatives, the AfDA instituted annual international Conferences where African Diaspora could congregate to brainstorm on topical issues affecting the African Diaspora on a global scale. The first Symposium was held in Kenya in 2020.
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