Global Diaspora Day - Case Studies

Global Diaspora Day - The Case Studies


Global Diaspora Day

The 11 selected articles are mainly from Africa and Europe. Here you can read some extracts (titles link to the full submission):

ADEPT (Africa Europe Diaspora Development Platform) - Paul Asquith

"Like many African migrants, Dr Ahmed Bugre made the journey to Europe across the Mediterranean before settling in Malta. After informally supporting the country’s migrants in relief work, the Ghanaian ended up running the Marsa centre. The Maltese authorities had effectively abandoned this migrant centre to its residents, many who had fled conflict in Eritrea and Somalia. On Dr. Bugre’s first day on the job, he witnessed two murders at the centre, and was himself held hostage for several days.

Dr. Bugre overhauled the management of the centre; ten years later, it is a model of how to run a migrant reception centre. Residents are treated with respect and receive medical and other care. Dr Bugre places a lot of emphasis on skills training for residents, to improve their chances of finding work. So successful has Dr. Bugre’s approach been, that the Maltese authorities have agreed to take over responsibility for running the centre again."

ConnectIreland - Thelma Harris

"The work of ConnectIreland, a private company delivering a government initiative, was inspired by the inaugural Global Irish Economic Forum meeting in 2009. The company works in partnership with IDA Ireland, Ireland’s investment development agency. Key to the company’s success is that it has one clear and concise ask of the diaspora: ‘Do you know a company looking to expand internationally?’

69 companies have located in Ireland as a result, with 2,069 approved jobs coming to Irish shores. Due to the size and nature of these companies, many have brought job creation to the more rural areas of Ireland. For example a multi-million euro industry manufacturing basalt fibre chose Ireland for their production facility, creating 70 jobs in 3 years in Meath, in the mid-east. Over 70,000 diasporans are now ‘Connectors’." 

NIDO Germany - Stephania Ategbe Abibatu Alofuokhai-Ghogomu

"After the Second World War, the new Federal Republic of Germany gave two-year vocational training programmes to young Nigerians in the civil service, for the needs of the country’s economy. These 'bridge-builders' between Nigerian and German industry took crash language courses and were offered vocational training programmes by the Carl-Duisburg Gesellschaft, founded in 1949.

Some Nigerians went on to study at German universities, leading to the creation of dynamic and critical Nigerian students’ unions in Berlin and Hamburg, amongst others. Many returned to Nigeria afterwards, since the German Foreigners’ Act made no provision for further work.
[...]
These ‘Ausländer’ (foreigners) evolved into ‘Migranten’ (migrants), leading to the further establishment of groups such as the Nigerian Community in Berlin (1990), Nigerian Community Germany (1991) or the Association of Nigerian Doctors in Germany to quote some."

The full list of selections:

  • ADEPT (Africa Europe Diaspora Development Platform) - Paul Asquith
  • AMANDLA EduFootball e.V. - Cape Town and Johannesburg
  • Casa Africa - Gemma Vecchio
  • ConnectIreland - Thelma Harris
  • Diaspora Remittances: Solar energy - Terhas Hagos
  • Global Somalia Diaspora (GSD) - Abdihakim Ainte
  • NIDO Germany - Stephania Ategbe Abibatu Alofuokhai-Ghogomu
  • NIPOL Germany - Ngozi Utoh-Samuel
  • Sub-Sahara Advisory Panel - Fadhili Maghiya 
  • The African Chamber of Commerce in Scandinavia (ACCS) - Cinthia Loïs Thomsen 
  • WHEAT MST: One-on-one mentoring programme in UK and Horn of Africa - Hailu Hagos

View and download all selected case studies! 

Check out the media material and articles, browse the resources or return to Global Diaspora Day.

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