Programme Details

The Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), the Lead Agency for diaspora engagement in Nigeria, was established through the enactment of the Nigerians in Diaspora (Establishment) Act 2017 with a mandate to harness the human and material resources of Nigerians in diaspora towards the socio-economic, cultural and political development of Nigeria. In 2021, the Federal Government adopted the National Diaspora Policy 2021 (NDP) which contains the legal and regulatory framework governing diaspora engagement in Nigeria. NiDCOM’s activities include organising key annual events such as the “National Diaspora Day” on 25 July every year and Nigeria Diaspora Investment Summit, assisting in the repatriation of migrant returnees, and collaborating with local and international stakeholders to promote safe, orderly and regular migration. A key challenge of diaspora engagement is the denial of voting rights to Nigerian citizens in the diaspora, notwithstanding strong advocacy by NiDCOM at the National Assembly for necessary amendments of the Electoral Act.

Migrant remittance inflows are the greatest contribution of international migrants to national development. Migrant remittances in Nigeria rose to $24 billion in 2019 (equivalent to 5% of GDP) but declined to $17.6 billion in 2021 (3.7% of GDP) owing partly to the adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on international migration. As a source of foreign exchange earnings, remittance inflows in 2020 (S17.2 billion) far exceeded foreign direct investment ($2.4 billion), portfolio investment ($3.6 billion) and official development assistance ($3.5 billion) but trailed total export revenue ($38.2 billion). It is noteworthy that the cost of sending remittances to Nigeria has remain very high and has exceeded the SDG 17.3 target of 3%.