By Faith Anisiobi, The Sight News
The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Sola Enikanolaiye, has described the 2026 Nigeria Diaspora Investment Economic Conference (NIDEC) in Toronto, Canada, as a strategic platform for attracting investment, creating jobs and boosting foreign exchange inflows into Nigeria.
Enikanolaiye stated this on Monday while speaking with journalists at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, shortly before departing with a Federal Government delegation for the four-day conference.
The minister was responding to concerns that international engagements of this nature had in the past yielded little tangible results and were sometimes perceived as diplomatic jamborees.
He said the present administration had moved away from such engagements under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s realigned 4Ds Foreign Policy Agenda of Demography, Development, Democracy and Diaspora.
“This administration does not travel for jamborees. We travel for results. Mr. President has mandated a high-powered delegation led by the Chief of Staff to the President, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, because NIDEC 2026 is a deal room for Nigeria’s growth,” he said.
According to him, the conference will provide opportunities to strengthen Nigeria-Canada trade relations, with the participation of senior Canadian officials, including the President of the Treasury Board, Hon. Shafqat Ali, as well as ministers from Ontario.
He said the engagement was expected to facilitate new trade agreements, partnerships for small and medium-sized enterprises and greater access for Nigerian products to the North American market.
Enikanolaiye also said the inclusion of key economic agencies such as the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission, the Nigerian Export Promotion Council and the Nigeria Revenue Service would enable Nigeria to promote incentives for diaspora capital repatriation, export expansion and remittance-backed investment vehicles.
He said these initiatives would help increase foreign exchange inflows and create employment opportunities in Nigeria.
The minister further disclosed that the participation of five state governors from Anambra, Borno, Kaduna, Plateau and Zamfara would enable the states to directly engage potential investors on projects in infrastructure, agriculture, technology and mining.
He said the involvement of sub-national governments would decentralize investment opportunities and ensure that the benefits of diaspora investment extend beyond Abuja.
On technology and skills transfer, Enikanolaiye said the presence of the Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency, Kashifu Inuwa, would support efforts to secure partnerships in digital innovation, fintech and information technology capacity building.
He said NIDEC 2026 was also designed to strengthen engagement between the Nigerian government and its diaspora by connecting investment-ready Nigerian projects with high-net-worth Nigerians living abroad.
According to him, the conference will provide an avenue to address bottlenecks confronting Nigerians in the diaspora who wish to invest in the country, while also rebuilding trust between government and the diaspora community.
Enikanolaiye noted that Nigeria received more than $20 billion in diaspora remittances last year, stressing that the objective of NIDEC was to transform part of the remittance flows into productive investments.
“With over $20 billion in diaspora remittances to Nigeria last year, NIDEC 2026 is designed to convert that goodwill into equity, into factories, and into businesses that employ Nigerians,” he said.
He added: “NIDEC 2026 is economic diplomacy in action. Nigeria is open for business. And we are going to Toronto to close deals.”
The conference, themed “Invest Nigeria, Thrive Abroad,” is scheduled to hold from August 12 to 15, 2026, in Toronto, Canada. NIDEC 2026 is organized by the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), in collaboration with the Nigerian High Commission in Ottawa and the Canadian High Commission in Abuja.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the conference would serve as a bridge between global capital and bankable investment opportunities in Nigeria.
