Keywords

1 Introduction

Migration is core to human existences. Migration is triggered by many factors. These factors include; economy, security, family reunion, education and persecution among other reasons (Akanle & Adesina, 2017a). Hence, according to the reasons and factors behind migration can also be classified into economic factors, demographic factors, socio-cultural factors, political factors and miscellaneous factors. The drivers/causes of migration also fit into the push and pull factors frameworks (Akanle, 2018). This is against the backdrop of the motivations from pull factors of the booming economy at destination countries and the push factors of bad infrastructures, unemployment, poverty, political instability, insecurity, and so on at countries of origin. People may migrate as individuals, in family units or in large groups. This is why Akanle and Adesina (2017a) maintains while some migrations from Africa may be involuntary, significant proportions are voluntary and motivated by economic pressures. Even those which appear to be involuntary are often belied with voluntariness in the final analysis.

International migration is therefore very much more complicated, dynamic, sensitive and operating with critical multi-functionalities in the twenty-first century and this will most likely be so into the nearest foreseeable future in development terms and for development reasons. It is therefore very important and existential for key actors and stakeholders in the development spaces to constantly examine the existential development elements of international migrations within the remit of multi-dimensionalities and functionalities in contexts of development across developing and developed countries international and development praxes. Hence, international migration is increasingly of global interest and this interest is usually traceable to the development competences of international migration as commonly seen through remittances and general quality of life and investment enhancements at countries of origin especially poor nations of Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean.

West Africa is among the sub-regions (of Africa) that fall seriously into the categories of poor migrants sending countries relying on international migrants for livelihood enhancement and development and Nigeria is top ranking in this context (Akanle, 2018). International migration is certainly defining character of the twenty-first century largely due to increasing poverty and underdevelopment in many nations and roles of international migrants in ameliorating human conditions in poor countries as well as large contributions to workforce in developed nations. The real and potential contributions of the diaspora and international migrants to developments at poor countries are particularly definitive and noteworthy in practical terms (Foresti et al., 2018; Hack-polay, 2018; Hack-Polay & Siwale, 2018; Sinatti & Horst, 2015; Ratha et al., 2011).

The remit of this chapter, therefore, is to examine the ligaments of migration and development through the case study of Nigeria as a key player in the international migration and development socioeconomic and development marketplace. The chapter examines the profiles of migrants’ investments, conceptualisations, challenges and coping mechanisms among others. The perspectives of this chapter are within the celebratory and cautious frameworks (Gamlen, 2014). The significance of the chapter can be seen from different dimensions. First, the chapter is justified because it profiles different migrants’ investments in the context of Nigeria, as lessons for West Africa, empirically in manners that can better inform policies and practices sustainably. Second, the chapter empirically demonstrates there are more to migration and development than conventional remittances as investments are also major forms of and more sustainable ways of contributing to national development beyond standard remittances (Akanle & Olutayo, 2009; Fleischer, 2007; Shinn, 2008).

International migrants have been subjects of bourgeoning studies and policies. Most existing researches and policies have however concentrated more on remittances as exemplars of development in international migration and development accountabilities. This chapter therefore expands empirical knowledge and offers new narratives as well as core and nuanced narratives on the interfaces and intermingling domains of international migration and inter/national development in poor countries. This chapter adds important case study, data, narratives and functionally relevant knowledge to the existing body of information complicated and evolving scenarios in international migration and development. This chapter interrogates the contours and ligaments of investments in terms of patterns and worldviews embedded in experiences and social relations of migrants and their kin and implications for development. This chapter is of benefits to stakeholders interested in understanding the relationships between migration and diaspora investments and development in poor countries now and into the future.

2 International Migration, Investments and Development in Africa

According to Ratha et al. (2011), migration is an important part of the agenda for regional economic integration that has made progress in the past years. The process of international migration across the globe is increasing daily and the impact of such migrations on destination and origin countries have become contentious, vexing and continuous (Adu, 2018; Shinn, 2008) needing fresh insights, knowledge and data. Africa is a continent on the move due to massive migrations of its people. Africa is origin, transit and destination for migrants (Akanle, 2018). The continent is however more popular in migration studies and policies because of its established status as migrant sending continent. This is usually due to the migration propelling huge poverty of Africa, political instability and insecurity on the continent. Thus, Africans are by nature and nurture migrants. It is possible to opine that the extant and contemporary history of Africa is the history of migration particularly internationally. The number of people of African descent that live outside the continent is estimated at almost 140 million, most of them in the Western Hemisphere (Akanle, 2018; Fleischer, 2007). Fleischer (2007) added that many migration experts ascribe the large movement of people out of Africa to many uncomplimentary factors. These factors include; high unemployment rate, low salaries, low saving rates, sluggish economic growth, demographic growth and insecurity (Akanle, 2018; Fleischer, 2007; Ratha & Plaza, 2016).

For Martha et al. (2018), migration which is one of the prominent activities of the twenty-first century contributes largely to all aspects of socio-economic development giving positive light to achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Migrants and their families benefit from increased income and knowledge, which allows them to spend more on basic needs, more reliable and modern energy services, access education and health services, and make investments possible (Martha et al., 2018; Akanle, 2018; Siwale, 2018; Akanle & Adesina, 2017a; Boly et al., 2014; Ratha et al., 2011). According to Akanle (2018), livelihood enhancements through remittances, investments, chain migration and values sharing are core drivers and reasons for international migration Africa and Nigeria (See also Akanle & Adesina, 2017b). These are major positive outcomes ameliorating human conditions in Africa in the face of excruciating poverty, poor governance, corruption and generalized underdevelopment.

Against this background, De Haas (2006), UNCTAD (2009), opine that increased support for diaspora enterprises and investments is essential for sustainable development of their origin country and residence. This is because remittances, supports and investments from the diaspora play crucial roles in reducing poverty by creating job opportunities and improving livelihoods through harnessing innovation, technology, and capital creation thereby having and driving multiplier effects on income distribution (De Haas, 2006; UNCTAD, 2009). International migrants in the diaspora face many challenges when attempting to invest in home countries and these include hostile business climate, negative infrastructures, insecurity, and lack of legal and policy frameworks to protect investments. Many also lack belief and trust in the system including lack of trust in social and kinship networks (Akanle & Adesina, 2017b).

Challenges international migrants in the diaspora face as they attempt to invest in home countries are massive and these challenges often make them uneasy when deciding whether or not to invest in countries of origin especially in Africa. When they do invest, they device innovative coping mechanisms to protect investments and reconnect them with homes. Researches have shown that most diasporas start businesses and investments in their home countries with the money saved from paid works overseas but while investing some diasporas face great challenges even as they struggle to save their investments (Chacko & Gebre, 2013; Ratha et al., 2011; Olatuyi et al., 2013; Allen et al., 2016; Chunda, 2018). Governments and states/non-states actors have to institute systems to make investment climates protective of the international migrants in the diaspora will sustainably invest in origin and contribute substantially to the very needed development. These investments are particularly very needed and are apparently important lifelines in the face of massive government failures and excruciating poverty, unemployment and sustained/aggravated underdevelopment in Africa.

3 Methodology

Nigeria is the national contexts and the city of Ibadan was the study area where data was collected for the study that informed this chapter. The city of Ibadan is the capital city of Oyo state. It is the largest city in West Africa and third largest city in Africa. It is the most populous city in Nigeria after Lagos and Kano. Ibadan is fast going through the process modernization fitting into the rate of growth and development of the twenty-first century due to its closeness to Lagos State which is the fastest evolving mega city in Africa (Akanle et al., 2014). Also, many people in the diaspora and even other cities in Nigeria are now re/settling their families and businesses in Ibadan due the relative calmness and peace of the city. Ibadan is comparatively cheaper in terms of cost of living and cost of setting up businesses and investments. It is also a stably and gradually modernizing providing more predictable setting for investment. The kinship trust thresholds and social coefficient of Ibadan are also, comparatively, largely higher than places like Lagos and Port Harcourt. Ibadan is historically known for agriculture, trading, warfare, administration and handiwork but has also evolved over the years to be known for civil service, private investments and tertiary education (Akanle et al., 2018).

Ibadan is located in south western region of Nigeria. The study that informed this chapter was a descriptive research with the use of primary and secondary methods of data collection. The study explored how migration and diaspora investment affect development. The primary method used was purely qualitative research design. In addition to the primary method, the secondary data was employed by reviewing relevant literature and data from business documents, conference documents, academic journals, newspapers, books and reliable internet sites. Key-informant interviews (KII) and recording of life histories were also used. The target population for this study was international migrants who have investments in Nigeria. The choice of this category of people was because of their key and in-depth knowledge of the investments climate in context. The sample size for the KII was 10 international migrants who were purposively selected. This number of interviewees was chosen because of the focus of the study. The interviewees were hard to reach people for security and safety reasons in a very insecure country like Nigeria (Akanle & Olutayo, 2012).

When international migrants relate with Nigerians, it is usually with extreme care and they keep low profile. They often make themselves inaccessible and usually deny people access to them (Akanle & Olutayo, 2012). This building was of inaccessibility and protection by migrants was usually for two major reasons. First, to prevent themselves from criminal attacks. Second, to protect themselves from massive burdensome requests for financial assistances and chain migration requests from people in their social and kinship networks due to excruciating poverty in Nigeria. It was particularly difficult to recruit the 10 interviewees. Both formal and informal networks were leveraged upon to convince the interviewees to be involved in the study after repeatedly assuring them the study was purely for research/academic purposes and that no harm would come to them. They were also assured of anonymities and confidentialities. International migrants are hidden and relatively scarce and the fact that some of them were not willing to disclose any information based on their investments for safety and trust reasons was seriously a challenge to the study though this was overcome eventually due to continuous assurances, professional retooling and strategic engagements (Akanle & Olutayo, 2012).

Interviewees were conducted in safe environments and were very informative and useful. Interviews were tape recorded, transcribed and analysed with a qualitative data analysis software. Analysis patterns included 1. Content analysis 2. thematic analysis and 3. interpretive phenomenological analysis. Ethical considerations were observed within the benchmarks of global best practices in research these included confidentiality, anonymity, informed consent, beneficence, non-coercion and right of withdrawal. The research that informed this chapter was purely objective.

4 Data Presentation and Discussion

4.1 Profile of Diaspora Investment

Many existing researches have noted that diaspora investors mainly invest in housing projects (Boly et al., 2014). Boly et al. (2014) for example, find that in countries like Burkina Faso, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal and Uganda, over 20% income generated from international remittances was spent on physical capital investments such as buying land or improving a farm. In our study, it was discovered that most of the interviewees engage in farming while others invest in automobiles and other small ventures. This implies that Nigerians abroad prefer to venture into physical capital investments. The relativity of businesses in terms of sizes and scale depends on different perspectives. It was discovered that most interviewees engage in large scale businesses because it has been expanded overtime while only a few were into small businesses by owning small shops. This however means, international migrants are interested in sustaining their businesses and also expand it by venturing into more businesses in the country of origin.

The interviewees in this study were engaged on the nature of the investment they have. Prompts and probes during interviews included; type of business they run, the size of the business they are into, the factors or reasons for choosing the particular business. Other prompts and probes included; duration of the business in terms of short, medium or long term investment. and if they are interested in investing in other business. Every investment varies across interviewees. There are various types of investments that the interviewees are engaged in, as shown in Table 8.1.

Table 8.1 Profiles of diaspora’s investment
Full size table

An interviewee mentioned that he has two businesses and he is running them concurrently:

I have two businesses in Nigeria. No 1, farming and secondary, its management and financial and tax management. At the moment we planted plantain, pepper, all this tomato and the likes. We want to do it on a large scale; we want to start making tomato paste. But for now we are still testing. We did irrigation I think December. We are still testing before we go massively. But the other one, started seven years ago. (KII/MALE/35YEARS/RWANDA)

Going further, another interviewee revealed that he is into two businesses which he is also running concurrently. One of the businesses is not as tasking as the other, because one requires full concentration:

I’m into real estate and I’m also into farming. I’m more concentrated on the farm now. Basically we do live stock and we are going into milk production Real estate is the way I put to my friends and colleagues who are into it fully, depending on what you have. If you have money, for example, if you have money in real estate it is very lucrative. If you buy properties at cheap rate, some you will renovate and you will sell, it’s okay, it’s a good business if you have the capacity and the finance too. (KII/MALE/35YEARS/SPAIN)

International migrants engage in many investments in their home countries. Some of these investments are owned by the family not just the individual migrant. The type of international migrants’ investments in this finding include farming/agriculture, laundry, automobiles, betting centers, real estate, pharmaceutical company and tax management. Some interviewees explained why they decided to choose the type of investments they are into. An interviewee who captured modal views tried many businesses before he finally became successful in one:

The reason is that actually I’ve tried a couple of different businesses which I wouldn’t say it was successful because due to Nigeria and government policies and a lot of things because the reason why I’m doing what I’m doing now... because I’ve invested in different sectors or let’s say different kinds of businesses. Presently, what I’m doing I believe that I understand it more than what I’ve been doing before. (KII/MALE/44YEARS/CANADA)

The profit derived from the business is another factor influencing investment choices of migrants in countries of origin particularly Nigeria. Another reason is influence from social and kinship networks including friends and kin in determining investment choices.

Where I work, I have a colleague who is a pharmacist and she told me how lucrative it is to invest in that sector. I have also seen for myself, I have a friend in Nigeria that is a pharmacist and one of the top directors at one of the biggest pharmaceutical industry in the country. Also, in the area of farming, as you know, agriculture is one of the fastest growing sectors in Nigeria. So it’s the fact that I know that I will make a huge profit from investing in agriculture for me. (KII/MALE/50YEARS/ENGLAND)

Control is another factor mentioned by interviewees. According to an interviewee who captured modal views:

My first reason is that it allows me to be in control of my business, so I go there buy it and be sure that this is what I bought and I ship it to Nigeria. When it gets up here, I’m with it, I can easily sell it repair it, whatever I want to do with it, I’m in charge. The risk there minimal, it’s not like I’m not in control. Unlike abroad, you might not be there I tell you, it doesn’t matter, you ask somebody to pick something for you, the law is protecting you. If that person fails to do whatever he’s supposed to do you can sue him, he knows. So back to the question, the reason is because I have much control. At least, let’s say 85%. (KII/MALE/60YEARS/CANADA)

Many factors influence the choice and type of investments. The choices of the type of investment as mentioned by the interviewees are based on profit, control, ownership, passion and flexibility. Passion, provision for their family members, control and flexibility that comes with the investments, influence from friends, state of poverty of the country and the state of the economic crises like unemployment issues are key determinants. The scale and sizes of investments vary. An interviewee exemplifying and capturing common opinions observe:

Well, when it comes to selling cars, I wouldn’t want to say it’s a small scale. It depends on the way you can put it. The way you can put it is that if you can give me the amount maybe you can put it in a way that okay, this business you’re into, from zero to so, so, and so amount to this amount investment. Because like for example now, I have a client that wants to buy car worth 16 million, I have client that wants to buy car worth 7 million. So it depends on the business because I wouldn’t want to say it is a small investment. (KII/MALE/44YEARS/CANADA)

Another interviewee was explicit about the size of his investment because he is planning to expand it further.

The other businesses are long term definitely especially the farm because we are about starting an expansion project. (KII/MALE/35YEARS/SPAIN)

The sizes and scale of investments are relative. However, it is noteworthy that migrants are ambitious and are willing to expand their businesses largescale. This is important for policies attempting to appropriate migrants’ investments for growth and development. Investments climates, policies and security are however key in all of these.

4.2 Challenges of Diaspora Relative to Investments

Most interviewees expressed the feelings it has not been easy to maintain their investments. This is because, according to interviewees, migrants have to go extra mile, uncomfortably, to ensure the sustainability of their investments. There are many challenges that migrants face while investing back home. This is because of the state of the country in terms of security, economic conditions, finances, registering of the investments, summersault of government policies, environmental issues and fiduciary (trust) issues. Most interviewees mentioned infrastructural deficits, particularly, the state of energy/power supply in the country. According to an interviewee who captured modal perspective:

Of course there are a lot of challenges that you face in Nigeria for example, I’ll give you security wise, power and a lot of challenges but those are the few I can give you that is affecting my business because I could remember like December 2017, my office was burgled by thieves and another thing there is when I run the business centre at least in a day, I use to buy fuel with of 1,000 naira in a day. To run the business every day because sometimes I don’t have electricity from morning to night because I always open by 9 am and I close by 9pm in the night. (KII/MALE/44YEARS/CANADA)

Another interviewee opines there are no available loans to fund investments:

The first is money and that’s because I have just one stream of income which is my salary to sponsor my business and also cater for my family and it is reflecting on my business because the things that I need to do I don’t do them in time. For instance, if I have to buy fertilizers for my plants and I can’t afford it at that time, it will affect the growth and production of crops. I don’t have access to loans from Nigeria. Another problem is the security challenge we have in the country. (KII/MALE/50YEARS/ENGLAND)

Another interviewee maintains:

Take for instance, at the port, sometimes ago, I lost a very huge amount of money close to a million naira because of bad government policy. The day of the arrival of my container was given to me. The container arrived two weeks earlier and I was charged for a demurrage. I pushed against this but because we don’t have a good judicial system, I lost out on that. In the environment where you have well working policy I wouldn’t be made to pay what I’m not supposed to. (KII/MALE/50YEARS/CHINA)

From the above findings, international migrants face a lot of challenges while investing in Nigeria. The constrains include unfavourable government policies, financial constraint and unavailability of loans, environmental issues like security, and unavailability of social infrastructures like electricity, fraud and mismanagement and high tax rate. When the interviewees were asked if they were interested in any other business aside from the one they have invested in, some of them expressed their passion for other businesses but refrain from investing because of various reasons mentioned above. If the conditions improve, they are willing and ready to keep investing and expanding their businesses. According to an interviewee:

It would not stop me from investing but it will limit the extent I’m willing to. For instance, the issue of insecurity in Oyo state as we speak now is discouraging trust me. In fact, I had a call yesterday morning; there was this particular staff of mine who was worried about their security and all that. I just told them don’t worry, I also come here regularly so whoever will kidnap you will kidnap all of us. Not that I have anything (other powers) but you know you just have to inspire them. (KII/MALE/35YEARS/SPAIN)

Despite these challenges, interviewees stated their opinions on how businesses can thrive in Nigeria and also pointed out the limitations to be addressed by the government so as to make the country conducive enough for businesses to thrive and be successful. According to an interviewee:

Well, number 1 in the aspect of security, because for anybody to come from diaspora and anywhere and say they want to invest in Nigeria, everybody will look for a favourable place. If the environment is not secure...even now you see a lot people leaving Nigeria. I have a friend that is earning close to 1 million naira every month but despite that he still moved from Nigeria to Canada with his family and the reason is the security because you can’t guarantee what will happen tomorrow. And number 1 the security aspect, number 2 is power generation, source of power. (KII/MALE/44YEARS/CANADA)

4.3 Coping Mechanisms of Diaspora Relative to Investment

To tackle financial and capital issues, Nigerians living abroad get mortgages in form of loans for buying properties in Nigeria, access international account-to-account remittance services and also get help for buying and selling shares on the Nigerian stock exchange (Chunda, 2018). International migrants have learnt to cope with the challenges they are facing when it comes to investment. This is mainly because of perseverance and love for the country and also the fact that they have spent a lot while investing and they cannot abandon their investments midways.

You have to make all your business work; you try all you can. Concerning the security, for instance we put our generator outside before, it was stolen. It was the biggest generator too, so we had to buy another one and we have to be locking it in the shop. (KII/FEMALE/39YEARS/AMERICA)

Another opine:

Wherever you know you put money, you have this strong mind of money is in the air and you can’t allow it go down the drain. That’s the first motivation because money is very important. So when you put some money somewhere, you are motivated to keep trying to make sure it gets better. Then two, let me not shy away from the fact that uncles who are actually big farmers, so I kind of share ideas from them, I have the privilege of going into their farms to see what’s happening. Then privilege enough to make use of their equipment too. (KII/MALE/35YEAR/SPAIN)

Hence, it was found that the final consumer of the goods and services are made to suffer the consequences of government policies like high rate of tax and other expenses incurred when clearing goods from the port.

You see it’s about money right? When I’m talking about business, I’m restricting myself within my company. Whenever they force me to spend, maybe they tax me too much or maybe I want to clear my cars and they put too much on me, I don’t care about it anymore because I know at the end of the day the final consumer will suffer. So that gives me rest of mind, although it’s so sad, I know but I’m not part of the problem because the person that caused the problem in the first place made me to transfer my aggression to another person. (KII/MALE/60YEARS/CANADA)

Most interviewees emphasized they increase the prices of their goods so as to make up for incurred expenses during the cause of investing. This implies that the final consumer has to suffer the consequences. Some interviewees resort to taking alternatives to improve their investments- for instance, the use of generators to substitute for electricity. Others leverage on their kinship and social networks by getting supports/assistances from their friends and family members in terms of money, equipment and other intangible values.

4.4 Diaspora’s Investments and Development in Nigeria

Diaspora investments have a lot of impact on the development of Nigeria. Although many of the interviewees mentioned difficult investment climates and terrains they have to cope with while investing, they have several motivations and thee motivations is keeping them going. Several reasons for investing in Nigeria include creation of employment, to gain more money, to help those in need, access to land, availability of capital and family/friends among others. The trajectories surrounding the starting up of investments have not really been easy for the international migrants but many are resolute:

Yeah, like you know to set up a business in Nigeria is not really a joke because you hardly see people that will help you because you need to try as much as possible to work hard on your own to try to source for capital and at the same time a lot of policies like...Okay let me give you an example. You can imagine in 2015 I was having almost 7 million naira that I invested in oil and gas like I tried to rent a fueling station whereby you can be selling Premium Motor Spirit (petrol/gas for vehicles) and other oil and gas thing. But at the end of the day sure to government policies and other things, that affected it like presently the rate of dollar to naira because that time I can tell you that it was one of my sisters that helped me and when she was sending me money dollar was 200 naira the same year and within 4 months that this business started and it went to add high as 400 naira. You can do the calculation and see the difference. (KII/MALE/44YEARS/CANADA)

Migrants have motivations behind investing and these motivations sustain them. An interviewee, for instance explains his motivations for investing in Nigeria

Well, number 1, I believe Nigeria is my country, the country where I grew up especially the city I sell car that is where I grew up and I can tell you from a-z that this is how things were in those days because I’m used to the environment I can tell you this is where this is. If I need something I know where to get it unlike someone that is JJC (someone without experience) so that’s one of the reasons. (KII/MALE/44YEARS/CANADA)

Some interviewees have investments just to create employment for people:

I just feel like, you can have a whole lot of money in the bank but it’s not going to increase even if there’s interest, it won’t be much. So instead of putting your money in bank, why can’t you just invest and be of help and take people out from the street and keep them busy. When I have money or if I have money, I’ll invest in my own country and keep people out of the street. So why not invest, why not help people. I also pay my tax. (KII/MALE/35YEARS/RWANDA)

An interviewee expresses his mind by saying it is profitable and it is better to invest in Nigeria than abroad,

Well maybe because I grew up in a political family, so I’ve always had that passion. And then secondary, let me say the first thing is I never saw myself working for anybody even right from my schooling days in UI (University of Ibadan). I never believed in working for somebody and I started little by little businesses while I was in school here. So we started little by little and it’s been well. No doubt, trust me. But one thing is we are interested in is the development of Nigeria. We’ll get there someday. (KII/MALE/35YEARS/SPAIN)

Migrants’ investments lead to development. Migrants’ investments are productive and lead to growth and development, for instance, in terms of employment opportunities, infrastructural development of areas, generation of tax and revenue for the government and so on. Migrants’ investments have a lot of impacts on the development of Nigeria.

Migrants contribute to development in enourmous ways and their contributions go beyond economic to include political, social and socialization. Even though remittances are the most profound contributions of the diaspora to development of homeland, findings suggest investments are becoming very common. This is against the background that many international migrants in the diaspora are increasingly aware that the only pathway to sustainably develop home countries is to reduce consumption funding and increase investment mobilization and this is key (Akanle and Adesina (2017a). Many migrants also fund investments because of the belief that they will experience return migration somedays. Hence, many invest at home to increase sources of income as many of them are in the lower end of the economic systems at countries of destination. Migrants’ investments also contribute as ‘brain gain’ in home countries because of transfers of beneficial know-how, skills, competencies, businesses and education opportunities to homeland (De Haas, 2006, UNCTAD, 2009).

According to, therefore, increased support for diaspora enterprises and investments are fundamentally key and essential for sustainable development of countries of origin. Migrants’ investments play fundamentally important roles in reducing poverty by creating job opportunities and improving livelihoods through annexations of innovation, technology and capital. Migrants’ investments motivations have led to the sustainability of these investments. These investments have many impacts on growth and development of the Nigerian society. For instances, an interviewee that captured modal views on contributions to development of origin opines:

Well, you invest and you’re paying your tax so the government can easily get revenue from the tax you paid to do certain things so that’s the only contribution you can give to the government or to the society. Yeah, like at least presently now I have like 5 people working under me. And some are apprentice that came to learn. Do you understand me? So that’s how I give back to the society. (KII/MALE/44YEARS/CANADA)

Moreover, another interviewee observes:

Nigeria to a large extent it is still a virgin land in investment. Nigeria is a good place to invest. Take for instance; my business cannot flourish in America or in China or in Canada because they are fairly used. Not many people will like you patronize that but here I have the market. We are also giving back to the society as our CSR, Cooperate Social Responsibility. Students that can’t pay this, we help them. That’s also part of our responsibility. (KII/MALE/50YEARS/CHINA)

The investments have contributed greatly to the growth and development of Nigeria. These contributions include creation of employment opportunities, development of remote areas, generating revenue from tax and poverty alleviation among others.

5 Conclusion

Diaspora investments are very important to the development of Nigeria and West Africa. This is because the investments come with so many advantages than disadvantages. The physical capital investments are the most central forms of investment and this is evidents in findings from the study that informed this chapter. These investments have been found to be in diverse scales but all very functional and celebratory. Some are small and some are large. More importantly, even the small scale has expansion outlooks which is good for sustainable development. International migrants are trying as much as possible to sustain their investments and also expand them by venturing into more investments in Nigeria. Choices of the types of investments are based on profit, ownership structure, competitiveness, passion and flexibility. The challenges faced by migrants investing in Nigeria are many and generally unfavourable.

The challenges are constraints to sustainable investments in Nigeria and the governments and key actors as well as strategic stakeholders have to address these if more investments will come to the country and if the current ones will survive into the nearest and distant futures. The challenges and constrains include unfavourable government policies, financial problems and unavailability of loans, security issues, and lack of supportive infrastructures like electricity, high import duties, frustrating ports processes when importing and exporting, complicated institutional arrangements, fraud and corruption and high tax rate among others. Despite these challenges, migrants adopt coping mechanisms for survival and sustainability. The investments have contributed greatly to the growth and development of Nigeria.

These contributions include creation of employment opportunities, rural urban renewal, technology transfers, capacity building, contribution to government revenue through payment of tax and poverty alleviation among others. However, to further encourage more investors in the country and Africa, governments should create more conducive investment environments and climates and institute specific protective nets for migrants who intent to invest in Nigeria and Africa. These may include, but not limited to, tax incentives, investment zones and special security and infrastructure architectures. There should also be availability of loans to diaspora investors whenever they face financial constraints and even when they are planning to invest in Nigeria.