Exploiting the development potential of North Africa's diaspora

15 March 2007

ECA's North-Africa Office (ECA-NA) will host an ad hoc experts group meeting from 19- 20 March 2007 in Rabat, Morocco, to discuss how best to harness the financial, human and intellectual resources of North Africans resident overseas to address the development needs of the sub-region.

The workshop is being organized in collaboration with other UN bodies including UNIFEM, UNFPA, UNDP, UNESCO and ILO.

The meeting will assess the development potential of remittances and skilled workers from North Africa's Diaspora, as well as share experiences and recommend policies that could increase their impact on the development process. A plan of action on Migration and Development in North Africa is one of the expected outcomes of the workshop.

Greater attention is now being paid not only to the financial contributions of the African Diaspora but also to the transfer of ideas, information, knowledge and behaviour patterns, between Africans resident overseas and the region, which are crucial inputs for the creation of innovative and competitive economies on the continent.

The next meeting of ECA's Intergovernmental Committee of Experts for North Africa, scheduled to take place in May 2007, will review the outcomes of this workshop.