The Nigerian in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM) has said that the overall goal of the Nigeria Diaspora Investment Summit(NDIS) is to demonstrate that, engaging the diaspora is a more effective and sustainable strategy for attracting inward investment into the emerging diversified Nigerian economy.
The Chairman of NiDCOM, Abike Dabiri-Erewa in her special remarks at the opening ceremony of the 6th edition of NDIS on Monday in Abuja explained that the objective of the summit is to establish a platform where Diaspora investors can interact with other potential sponsors, partners, business promoters and the government.
The theme of the 6th edition of NDIS ‘New Vistas, New Aspirations, New Opportunities: The Diaspora and National Development’.
Dabiri-Erewa further disclosed that the summit will foster business match-making opportunities, showcase, and explore the business and sponsorship opportunities in all the 36 states of Nigeria for diaspora investment.
She said the summit, since its inception, has been living up to its expectations of attracting diaspora investment into local businesses in Nigeria, with bounteous success stories, in terms of business connections and
social impact.
“With over 5,000 participants recorded, 900 business links established and over 200 deals closed, NDIS has come into its own as the leading business networking event for connecting Nigerian business owners and NGO operators with Nigerian diaspora-based investors.
“It has also provided a platform for the 2 diaspora community to give back, by providing support for several deserving NGOs.
“Specifically, the summit will be focusing on the following sectors: healthcare, education, agribusiness, creative, entertainment and sports, telecommunication, ICT/fintech, manufacturing and real estate.
“This hybrid summit will showcase the investment opportunities available in these sectors and the development framework put in place to make investing in Nigeria more attractive to Nigerian diaspora investors.
“In the quest of the Federal Government to go far in repositioning the economy, there is a need to partner with the diaspora in achieving these goals.
“This is why the Summit with this year’s theme being ‘New Vistas, New Aspirations, New Opportunities: The Diaspora and National Development’ is very appropriate because it creates innovative platforms of partnerships, between the Government and the Diaspora, in attracting investment into local businesses and thus enhancing Foreign Direct Investment in the country.
“Also, facilitating economic transformation through research and the local development of new energy solutions, which is expected to boost cross-sectoral investment cooperation.
“A few of the local firms and companies that have benefited through participating at NDIS, include include start-ups like Opalson Nigeria Limited which exports agro commodities from Nigeria to the international market; Nairaxi (logistics tech); Surejobz App (recruitment tech); iSTEMLabs Africa (education tech); and KudiMata, the Fintech education start-up now expanding into a household name in Nigeria.
“Also, Quebec Food Processing Industrial Parks Limited entered a partnership with an integrated farm estate for investors to provide equity financing for the farm’s existing value chains, while Sea Group Sousse Tunisie entered into a Substrates agreement with a German company for a food and beverage project.
“Beyond this, NDIS has over the years been expanding its participants’ network, showcasing their products and services to target audiences such as the Diaspora investors, sponsors and government actors.
“To our dear invited guests, it is our belief that sustenance of this yearly event will continue to encourage the Diaspora community in giving them a sense of belonging to contribute their quota, in enhancing the productivity of the National economy, and in the immediate long run, contribute towards the needed sustainable development in Nigeria,” she added.
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