U.S. Consul-General, Will Stevens has announced that the United States will increase its investment in Nigeria’s diaspora-led sectors.
Stevens stated that the U.S. government has expressed a willingness to invest more in Nigeria’s tech and education sectors to foster mutual development for both countries.
He made this announcement during a visit led by President Biden’s Advisory Council on African Diaspora Engagement Team (PAC-ADE) held at the Vibranium Valley Tech City in Ikeja, Lagos.
Stevens explained that to better understand the African market, the U.S. government sent the PAC-ADE team to strengthen economic, technology, cultural, and educational ties in Nigeria. The diaspora council comprises individuals from academia, finance, business, tech, think tanks, and religious sectors.
What they said
By engaging with government officials, civil society leaders, tech leaders, and private-sector partners, Stevens noted that they aim to promote diaspora-led investments in various sectors.
According to him,
“Also, through the various dialogues, they can advise the U.S president on how to develop better strategies and bring more investment to the continent.
“We are also touring tech centres to see the incredible advances that are happening in the sector here in Lagos and in Nigeria to make investments”.
The General Manager of Vibranuim Valley, Moyosore Asubiojo said the tech city had different technology companies that were focused on various sectors, such as Power, Aviation, Education and Fintech and they were striving to leverage technology to address challenges not only in Nigeria, but also beyond its borders.
“Some of the tech companies are Power Tech, EduTech VigiPay, and AviTech among others.
“We incubate numerous tech companies here, seeking ways to use technology to solve problems in Nigeria and globally,” she explained.
She added that they also specialised in talent outsourcing by connecting organisations to the best-skilled talents in Africa under its garden academy company.
According to the president of the nonprofit ReadytoLeadAfrica, Godbless Otubure, the council’s visit will add a better structure for investments on the continent by Africans in the diaspora.
“When you put a structure to the investment that diaspora community in the U.S. especially of African descent are making, then you create more ties,” he said.
“People are able to see that what they have in the U.S. is what they’re also looking at creating back home and you export culture, education best practices. This meeting is very important because a lot of conversations around the African Continental Free Trade Agreement — what is the role of the African community in that? How do they bring that conversation to the U.S. market?”
What this means for Nigeria
Speaking on the significance of the visit, Otubure said that the Nigeria visit underscores the council’s effort to build partnerships and promote investments that can significantly benefit the African continent and its diaspora communities. He stated this based on the following data on Nigeria, which indicates:
- That 3 million foreign nationals live in the United States, including an estimated 2.1 million from sub-Saharan Africa according to a 2018-2022 American Community Survey,
- Countries with the highest number of Nigerians living abroad include Canada, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
- According to a World Bank report, Nigeria accounted for $19.5 billion, or about 35% of sub-Saharan Africa’s total remittances last year alone.