News Summary:

• The African Diaspora Centre of Excellence will launch in Abuja before the end of 2023.
• It aims to connect Africans living abroad with the continent’s development.
• The center will start with a small team and receive support from Brussels, Belgium.

According to information obtained by The Nation, the African Diaspora Centre of Excellence is set to launch by the year 2023.

The Abuja-based hub would serve as a nerve core for initiatives aimed at re-establishing Africa’s diaspora population on the continent.

In December of 2022, a conference of African heads of state unanimously approved the centre.

The centre will launch in Abuja, according to Mr. George’s Rebelo Pinto Chikoti, Secretary-General of the Organisation of African, Caribbean, and Pacific States (OACPS), who is currently in Nigeria for the recently concluded 2nd Global African Diaspora Symposium, GADS.

Chikoti added that the center’s work would include encouraging people from Africa’s diaspora to contribute to the continent’s progress.

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So, he argues, members of the overseas African diaspora must be included in efforts to improve their home nations.

The Nigerian diaspora will be encouraged to participate in the advancement of their home nations through the Centre of Excellence’s efforts to collaborate with government officials in Nigeria. Consequently, the Centre of Excellence will serve not only Nigeria but the entire African continent.

He added that Brussels, Belgium, would be providing the centre with assistance while it carried out its primary function.

Moreover, he said, “I think we should be able to have the skeleton structure that will lead the office by the end of the year. Therefore, we are not considering a comprehensive plan, but rather the basics.

Therefore, we require an office coordinator. Experienced workers are needed to kick off the project and gain perspective on their potential growth throughout the course of the week. But I think it’s important to have a baseline.

Chikoti also praised the Nigerian government for helping the centre get off the ground by providing office space and other necessities.

He emphasised that the rest of Africa can learn a lot from Nigeria and its 17 million people living in the Diaspora.

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