Diaspora Rising
Many people are believed to be familiar with the term Africa Rising. It’s a famous expression often used, by top government officials and big business players on the continent including the Western media and their policymakers, to describe economic growth in Africa in recent years and the emergence of vibrant entrepreneurs on the continent.
Little wonder that the term has necessitated spin-offs in other places with “Latin America Rising” and “Asia Rising” to mention the prominent replicas.
But given that the concept of Africa Rising is one that is seemingly focused essentially on economic growth and its management with little attention paid to good governance and sound democratic practices, it all now looks like the continent will experience a catalyst in those lacklustre areas with Diaspora Rising.
It is fascinating to note that the African diaspora constituting millions of Africans residing in many Western countries has been aroused and are determined, more than ever before, to engage in development and governance on the continent.
There are certainly many cogent reasons why the African diaspora is charged towards this intervention. The most significant one is the huge amount being sent regularly by Africans in diaspora to their home countries for various purposes which has become a huge contributor to foreign exchange in-flows into these African countries.
For instance, according to the World Bank’s Migration and Remittances Data, the remittances to Sub-Saharan Africa in 2017 by Africans in diaspora has come up well at $38 billion. And out of this, Nigerians in diaspora made the highest remittances to their country with $22 billion in 2017.
So there’s no reason searching further on why Nigerians in diaspora seem to have be “rising” – more alive and fired up – to engage and interrogate the cause of the country’s slow advancement. And they are not leaving the renewed resolve to just the foregoing. They are determined to proffer solutions and to see the solutions at work in the where needed.
Clearly, the surge in the number of Nigerians from abroad now dotting the country’s political space, and with their convictions to contest for various elective positions in the coming general elections in 2019, are indications of the new “rising” on the continent.
Of course, similar steps are being taken by citizens of Ghana, Kenya and Sierra Leone amongst others.
And it is to be hoped that this new development will produce the kind of outcomes as “Africa rising” did.