World Bank and Partners Launch Initiative to Support African Diaspora in Europe

BRUSSELS, September 17, 2007 —There are an estimated 191 million international migrants in the world, the majority of whom live in developed countries. And, there is growing evidence that these communities contribute to the development process of home countries through a variety of channels, be it through remittances, investments, entrepreneurial activities, or transfer of knowledge.

For developing country governments, and the development partners who support them, diasporas—those migrants who are willing to participate in the development of their countries of origin—are a critical and untapped resource in their fight against poverty.

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To tap into that resource, the World Bank Group, in partnership with the Belgian Development Cooperation, the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the French Development Agency, is launching an initiative to support investments by Sub-Saharan diaspora across Europe that are geared toward achieving economic and social benefits in their countries of origin.

Born of discussions with various African diaspora organizations in Belgium, the Netherlands, France and other European countries, the initiative, called the Development Marketplace for African Diaspora in Europe (or D-MADE), hopes to generate momentum around innovative ways to mobilize the diasporas’ ideas and activities that lead to development in their countries of origin. It will support diaspora business entrepreneurs with a social mission by generating employment, business support, training and incomes for the poor and disadvantaged.

“There are over 1.7 million sub-Saharan African immigrants living in Europe,” says Obiageli Ezekwesili, World Bank Vice President for Africa. “We need to partner with these communities if we are to win the fight against poverty in Africa. The challenge of reaching the Millennium Development Goals requires everyone’s participation and we at the Bank need to learn from and encourage the entrepreneurship and creativity of these groups."

Entrepreneurship is the key theme for this first development marketplace targeted at African diaspora in Europe. Micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises will demonstrate their ability to impact on the social welfare of local African communities through profitable businesses, through job creation, investment in local infrastructure, technical assistance, among other areas.

D-MADE, is a grant giving competition that will reward the innovative entrepreneurial African diaspora in Europe for projects implemented in Sub-Saharan Africa and has two components:

· A Competition of innovative projects that will grant 10-15 prizes (ranging from €10,000 to €40,000 in size) to implement profit-making projects that empower the disadvantaged, are results-oriented, and scalable. Technical assistance will also be extended to the winners for one year during the implementation of the project.

· A Knowledge Exchange Forum that brings together the diaspora, civil society organizations, government, the business sector and development agencies to explore ways to work in partnership to fight poverty in Africa. Its objective is to leverage the ideas and skills brought together through the competition to generate new thinking and collaboration that will continue beyond the competition.

The competition is targeting individuals or organizations emanating from the Sub-Saharan African diaspora, currently living in Europe and active in Africa.. Applicants can be entrepreneurs, private investors, NGOs, civil society organizations, foundations, etc. They can be start-ups or already operating. For the complete eligibility and selection criteria, please visit the D-MADE website at.www.dmade.org.

Source: World Bank