Nigeria Seeks Diaspora Investment to Drive $1tn Economic Ambition Amid Trust Concerns

Nigeria has intensified calls for investment from its citizens living abroad, with the Federal Government identifying transparency, investor protection and credible investment opportunities as essential to attracting diaspora capital into the economy.

The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), Abike Dabiri-Erewa, said Nigerians abroad possess financial resources, professional expertise and international business networks that could contribute significantly to the country's ambition of building a $1 trillion economy.

She made this known at the ninth Nigeria Diaspora Investment Summit 2026, organised in partnership with the Nigeria Diaspora Summit Initiative. The event, held virtually on November 10, was themed “Bridging the Trust Gap: Connecting Diaspora Capital with Credible Home-Based Opportunities.”

Dabiri-Erewa identified fraudulent investment schemes, unverified investment platforms and inadequate investor protection as major barriers discouraging Nigerians abroad from investing at home. She explained that rebuilding confidence would require transparent processes, effective regulatory safeguards and reliable investment channels rather than relying solely on patriotic appeals.

She urged Nigerians in the diaspora to exercise caution when exploring investment opportunities and encouraged them to use established institutional channels where projects and service providers could be properly verified. She also called on financial institutions, regulators and investment facilitators to demonstrate greater accountability.

Speaking at the summit, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN), Shehu Usman Osidi, said the country needed to create an investment environment that allowed Nigerians abroad to independently assess, access and monitor opportunities without being physically present.

Osidi identified fraudulent property transactions, disputed land ownership, abandoned projects, unfulfilled agreements and mismanagement of investment funds as persistent challenges affecting diaspora investors. He noted that stronger cooperation between government agencies, regulators and private-sector operators was necessary to address these concerns.

As part of efforts to improve access to housing finance, he highlighted the National Housing Fund Diaspora Mortgage Product, launched in London on August 7, 2026. The initiative allows eligible Nigerians aged 18 to 70 living abroad to contribute $100, $200 or $300 monthly under the Basic, Classic and Premium categories, respectively. The bank has also established a Global Business Strategic Unit to coordinate its diaspora operations and improve service delivery.

Osidi stressed that providing mortgage facilities alone would not resolve the challenges facing diaspora investors. He advocated stronger property documentation, genuine land titles, quality construction and effective monitoring of housing projects. He also proposed a national database of investment-ready projects to enable prospective investors to verify ownership, promoters, funding requirements, risks and expected returns before committing their resources.

Earlier, the Chairman of the Summit Organising Committee and Coordinator of the Nigeria Diaspora Summit Initiative, Mobolaji Lewis, explained that the 2026 virtual engagement was designed to sustain investment discussions despite the decision to scale down the physical summit because of the national election campaign season. He said the programme would equip prospective investors with practical information on identifying and verifying credible opportunities while preparing the ground for the summit's 10th anniversary edition in 2027.