So that finally the voice of Bissau-Guineans from outside is really taken into account.
Bissau-Guineans residing abroad forms a large community estimated between 45,000 and 70,000 people just by counting Portugal and France (1). This community, which must be considered as the 9th region of Guinea-Bissau (as the general African diaspora is considered as the 6th Region of the African Union) represents a powerful lever to contribute to the challenges of socio-economic development of the country.
Indeed, Bissau-Guineans abroad, through their money transfers, constitute an additional contribution to national funding and official development assistance. In addition, the diaspora represents a pool of skills that is far too underestimated.
Several reforms have been undertaken by successive governments in recent years, including the creation of a Directorate General for Communities within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and communities, responsible for managing Diaspora issues by providing response to the governance of this sector.
Actions (missions, forums, seminars, etc.) have also been initiated to collect the concerns of the Bissau-Guinean Diaspora and their investment intentions:
- In 2011: a study by the IMO and the Center for Development Studies in Africa (CESA) based in Lisbon (1)
- In 2020: a 2-day forum, still organized by the IMO, was held in Bissau (2).
- In 2022: an "international" conference of the diaspora organized by the "Ianda Guiné" Program took place in November (3).
All these efforts are unfortunately funded by the UN or EU!! Different offices but always the same boss.
And despite all these initiatives, several problems remain, including the absence or insufficiency of statistical data on the Diaspora.
Who was aware beforehand of the holding of these 3 events? Which associations were contacted to answer questions and represent the diaspora?
Not many people...
In order to overcome this lack of information, it is necessary to create a census platform, an inclusive database: it does not matter if you have Bissau-Guinean nationality, if you know you are of Bissau-Guinean origin, you must register !
A professional platform would cost between €15.000 and €25,000.
It's "nothing" in a government's budget, but yet again, nothing has been put in place!
I personally don't have that money. If anyone has it and can afford to invest it head on, let it show up and we'll take a giant leap forward in organizing the diaspora.
But in the meantime, I don't want to get to the end of 2023 and still have nothing started in this area. My partner often tells me:
"If you can't reach your ultimate goal yet, what can you do today that brings you closer to that goal?"
What I can do is to alert my audience and write the citizen appeal as proof of this desire of the diaspora to be included in the destiny of the country.
For now, this will include your name, your country of residence and an email address.
That's all !
If you help me get as many people as possible to sign (including family members), we will attract the Government's attention enough to act and if, at the end of June 2024, nothing is done, we will have a sufficient database ready to micro-fund a citizen platform that will collect all useful information.
The diaspora is only solicited when it comes to political elections, and even this process is only partial (4)! It would now be a question of opening this process FOR ALL and outside the political stakes! Digitization is the best tool for this!
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