AICL Chief Seeks Stronger Diaspora Investment in Africa

The Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Abuja Investments Company Limited (AICL), Ambassador Maureen Tamuno, has called for stronger partnerships between Africa and its diaspora to attract productive investment, facilitate skills transfer and create jobs. Delivering the keynote address at the seventh Diaspora Africa Conference in Abuja on Thursday, she said engagement must extend beyond remittances to harness professional expertise, international networks, entrepreneurship and technology.

Speaking at the Afreximbank Africa Trade Centre under the theme, “Homecoming: Bridging the Divide from Diaspora to Africa’s Future,” Tamuno identified trust, capital, skills, identity and policy as five essential bridges between Africans at home and abroad. She urged governments to strengthen institutions, digitise public systems and provide accessible investment information, stressing that transparency and accountability were indispensable to investor confidence. “Patriotism should inspire an investment; it must never replace due diligence. Shared ancestry does not guarantee financial return,” she said.

Tamuno highlighted opportunities across AICL’s portfolio, including real estate, markets, public infrastructure, transportation, entertainment and the creative economy, inviting diaspora investors and institutions to explore partnerships within the Federal Capital Territory. She advocated a shift from remittances primarily supporting consumption towards structured investments that deliver financial returns alongside broader economic and social benefits.

Drawing on her experience as Nigeria’s former High Commissioner to Jamaica, with concurrent accreditation to Haiti, Belize and the Dominican Republic, she called for collaboration in training, research, technology and enterprise development. Diaspora professionals, she noted, could contribute through mentoring and knowledge exchange without relocating permanently, while women, young people and persons with disabilities must have access to investment, leadership and enterprise ownership.

To turn deliberations into measurable results, Tamuno proposed a Homecoming Partnership Compact to track partnerships established, enterprises supported, people trained and jobs sustained over the next 12 months. She said success should be judged by functioning businesses, responsible investments and improved livelihoods. “We cannot undo the journeys that divided us. But we can choose the partnerships that shape our future,” she added.