Remittances are a resilient and vital lifeline for tens of millions of African families and far exceed official development assistance to the continent. The African diaspora in Europe sends around 23 billion USD annually in remittances to family and friends in Africa. However, the majority of this money is used for daily needs and only little is directly invested in businesses.
WIDU.africa supports job creation in Africa by redirecting remittances from the African diaspora in Europe into micro and small businesses of relatives or friends in participating African countries. By providing grants and coaching measures to African entrepreneurs, WIDU.africa ensures the diaspora’s money is utilized effectively to unlock the economic and social potential of African small businesses.
Unlocking the potential of African new and existing micro and small businesses for economic and social development through financial support and coaching.
WIDU acts similar to an incubator with an individual approach to support the African diaspora in promoting African micro and small businesses.
WIDU.africa partners with members of the North and Sub-Saharan African diaspora in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland to provide micro and small businesses in Africa with financial support and coaching, to support their sustainable and inclusive development, and the creation and retention of jobs.
Panel discussion on integrating the diaspora in development cooperation
On 07.10.2020 the panel discussion on "Involving the Diaspora in the creation of new jobs in Africa – A new “Gold Standard” in Development Cooperation?" took place.
Take a look at the greetings of Günter Nooke and Dr. Karamba Diaby (Member of the German Parliament) as well as the panel discussion between Fred-Eric Essam (Manager at IBM), Lucy Larbi (Chairwoman Future of Ghana Germany e.V.), Dr. Sylvie Nantcha (Chairwoman The African Network of Germany e.V.) and Wolfram Zunzer (Project Manager at WIDU.africa).
The event was organised in cooperation with the office of Dr. Diaby and the German Africa Foundation.
Family ties across two continents
Arte documentary "Dollars für die Heimat" accompanies Ghanaian family participating in GIZ project.
WIDU.africa, a project of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, enables the African diaspora in Europe to support business ideas of their family and acquaintances in Africa. On 29 November 2021, Arte broadcasted a documentary about participants in the project.