DIASPORA DIRECT INVESTMENTS: THE CHALLENGES OF THE AFRICAN DIASPORA

Abstract

Diaspora investments have had tremendous impacts in the development of countries like India or China during the last three decades while other developing countries have embarked on a rush of debt to international lenders like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) or to the hunt for foreign direct investment (FDI), often seen as a real catalyst for the economies of the recipient countries. Yet the task remains difficult: for various reasons, governments often make choices that are not suited to their growth ambitions but simply to the strategic interests of investors. On the other hand, there has been strong growth in private remittances to African countries in recent years. According to the figures of the world bank, Sub-Saharan Africa received not less than US33 billion during the year 2016. This draws particular attention to the strength that this African diaspora can have for their countries of origin. Based on the world bank’s data on remittances to the continent between 2000 and 2016, this article analyses the financial capacities and challenges of the African diaspora, which,