What are we and what is our governance structure?

We are a charitable company/social enterprise, accountable to both the Charity Commission and Company’s house through our Board. We were registered in the UK in 1994.

We run projects and programmes such as SEEDA (Supporting Entreprenuers and Enterprise Development in Africa) which seek to mobilize the diaspora and other partners to support and invest in sustainable enterprises, particularly SME’s, that will generate wealth and jobs and respond to the jobs crisis in Africa.

We are a think tank that produces knowledge, expertise, and policies on migration and development issues (remittances, brain circulation, identity), particularly as these issues affect Africa and her global diaspora. One of our latest policy proposals is RemitAid – tax relief for remittances.

We are a consultancy business that can produce bespoke solutions for companies and organisations seeking to engage with the African diaspora or mainstream migration and development issues into their workplans.

Our SEEDA programme of supporting entrtepreneurs and the development of small and medium sized businesses, is currently active in Sierra Leone and Ghana. In the coming years we will roll out the model to Nigeria, Uganda, and Democratic Republic of Congo.

We organise events such as A Taste of Africa, Harnessing the Benefits of Migration: neighbourhood renewal in our global village, African Diaspora and Development Day (ad3), which seek to bring together the African diaspora, governements, other policymakers, and funders to create an enabling environment which

We undertake action-research such as our reports on Young Africans and their relationship with Africa.

We run high profile advocacy campaigns such as Remit Aid – tax relief for remittances, and other more creative campaigns, such Aiding and Abetting, which explore how Africans can begin to tell their own stories so they can contribute to a more diverse and complex picture of Africa.

poverty, not aid and debt relief. To borrow the old proverb, too much of current development assistance, gives people fish rather than teaches them how to fish. We believe in harnessing the diaspora and other partners to invest, time, money, know-how, to help power the engines of wealth creation that will produce self-sustainable and profitable communities, instead of communities waiting for the next aid cheque.

In other words, we want to support the creation of communities where people, particularly the young, are gainfully employed, have a stake in those societies and where productive activity leads to a self-sustaining virtuous circle.

This means unlocking the entrepreneurial spirit in Africa, and minimizing the barriers, be they educational, bureaucratic, political, cultural, which hinder creativity and enterprise. Particularly at a time when the state in Africa is shrinking, we believe that the private sector, especially a revitalized and dynamic, small and medium sized sector, will be the key engines in terms of generating jobs and driving of economic growth

• We have established the Supporting Entreprenuers and Enterprise Development in Africa (SEEDA) programme, which harnesses the resources of UK based Africans (skills, know-how, money) to work with grassroots entreprenuers in Sierra Leone and Ghana to expand their businesses and create much needed jobs. So far so 600 businesse have been supported
• As part of SEEDA and in partnerhip with the Institute of Public Administration and Management and Njala University, we are in the process of establishing two permenant business support centres in Sierra Leone
• We have established the annual African Diaspora and Development Day (ad3) as a major event that brings together several hundred Africans and friends of Africa to explore ways that the African diaspora can maximize their contributions to Africa’s development
• Through our growing consultancy practice we have recently helped the Greater London Authority and the Department for International Development develop diaspora engagement strategies to fulfill their respective remits
• We have supported the creation and growth of two diaspora umbrella bodies, Connections for Development (CfD) and African Diaspora Voices for Africa’sDevelopment (ADVAD).
• We have supported over 100 young Africans in London through Opportunity Africa a careers program that has enabled them to sharpen their focus on Africa-related career opportunities. About five have secured jobs as a direct result of the project and four have secured internship opportunities in Africa
• Through our numerous publications and conferences, we have have demonstrated leadership in putting the diaspora-for-development issue on the policy agenda and in supporting the African diaspora’s capacity. We have earned the trust of our stakeholders in the diaspora and in Africa.