MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND REGIONAL INTEGRATION
DIASPORA ENGAGEMENT INITIATIVE OF THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND REGIONAL INTEGRATION
CONCEPT PAPER
DIASPORA AFFAIRS BUREAU (DIASPORA AFFAIRS UNIT)
Skills
Intellectual
Improve linkages among business; vocational, educational, andtraining providers; and employers to produce workforce with more marketable skills Revise educational curricula to incorporate critical thinking skills, innovation, and entrepreneurship to help nurture a culture of entrepreneurship
Develop schemes to build the capacity of small and medium enterprises nationwide using diaspora skills and know-how.
Innovation
Intellectual, Financial
Systematize the purposeful search for innovation in firms and organizations and society at large; create incentives to encourage and reward innovation; send strong message to diaspora that the country is open for innovation.
Establish a competition for innovation and entrepreneurship that includes diaspora innovators and entrepreneurs.
Investments
Financial
Pursue investment climate reforms to encourage domestic investment; Foreign Direct Investment; and diaspora direct investment (all investors share similar core concerns). Those issues of specific concern to diaspora investors include land reform; dual nationality (or other means to guarantee property rights for diaspora investors who may now hold foreign citizenship) Encourage greater financial literacy and inclusion (bank the unbanked) Develop closer linkages between the remittances economy (e.g.,housing and construction) and the local economy to enhance beneficial multiplier effects of remittances Encourage and regulate innovative financial products and services attractive to diaspora investors
Restructure investment promotion agencies to attract diaspora direct investment and foreign direct investment Encourage local chambers of commerce to develop relationships with diaspora chambers of commerce for information exchange, business partnerships, and two-way trading relationships Launch products such as diaspora bonds to attract diaspora direct Investment Support innovative products to enable remittances recipients to gain access to financial services and business support where the intention is to use remittances for enterprise endeavors.
Enterprise
Financial, Intellectual
Reduce administrative barriers to doing business; reduce registration costs for new businesses; implement tax incentives to encourage enterprise
Amend banking regulations to enable “portable” credit histories to allow diaspora entrepreneurs to access credit in local capital markets
Amend employment laws to facilitate easier hiring of Ghanaian diaspora employees.
Encourage value chain initiatives to promote export of goods and services that target diaspora consumers, particularly where products have the potential to gain wider market access via diaspora channels
Competition
Political
Encourage competition in remittances service provision: reduce entry barriers to enable more players to reduce transfer fees; allow other financial institutions (e.g., monetary financial institutions) to provide money transfer services; apply competition policy frame works to exclusive agreements involving money transfer operators and their distributors
Use public-private dialogue structures to incorporate the views of diaspora investors and entrepreneurs on necessary reforms.