Preparations are complete in Minneapolis as the city gets ready to play host to the 2024 Diaspora Trade & Investment Summit, a platform where ideas and opportunities interact as high-profile business and other leaders convene to explore investment interests in real estate, pharmaceuticals and manufacturing sectors.
This year’s edition is taking place under the theme “Leveraging Diaspora – the Frontier Gateway for partnership & growth”.
Organized by the Association of Kenya Diaspora Organizations, this year’s edition of the annual summit that takes place in the United States will also shed a spotlight on the governance environment in Kenya, East Africa and the entire continent of Africa as a whole and will have business and political figures, including outspoken Kenyan Senator Richard Onyonka and renowned public-interest champion Okiya Omtata Okoiti, also the Busia County Senator.
Others expected at the summit are former Kenya Ports Authority Chief Executive Officer Daniel Manduku, now a member of parliament in the Republic of Kenya and nominated Senator Karen Nyamu.
AKDOI Founder and President David Ochwangi said the Summit says the Convention is designed as a launchpad for a larger economic development framework through collaboration between the Diaspora, business leaders and government officials in the United States and Africa to conduct business.
According to Ochwangi, this year’s event will also be the platform where seasoned constitutional lawyer, human rights defender and anti-corruption crusader Pheroze Nowrojee will be celebrated as an outstanding legal scholar for his lifetime contribution to the practice of law and development of Kenya’s rich legal jurisprudence.
“We are all ready and set for the summit. We look forward to a great gathering of brilliant minds where ideas will be exchanged and a platform established where investors can sample a cocktail of opportunities to harness,” said Ochwangi.
“It is particularly gratifying to be able to celebrate one of the greatest legal minds of our time in Pheroze Nowrojee and to also be able to have Senators (Okiya) Omtata and (Richard) Onyonka joining us at a time as historic as it is, especially when there’s renewed vigor in Kenyans’ quest for good governance and increased demand for more decisive actions in the fight against corruption.”
The Summit seeks to provide participants with the platform to explore and engage with business, political and government leaders for purposes of advancing the common welfare of those in the diaspora in its quest to reconstitute itself economically, socially, and politically and to have a voice at the decision table on issues of community growth.
“Our ecosystem is complex and as fragmented as it might appear, we have the wherewithal to transform the economic landscape of our countries of origin through direct capital investments on projects such as real estate, e-commerce, tourism, public infrastructure, manufacturing, outsourcing, finance, healthcare and so many others,” reads the summit concept note which adds:
“We have established platforms and frameworks that we hope to leverage our synergies and partner with the respective governments, American and African businesses, and other stakeholders to grow our economic standing.
“The role of the diaspora in Africa’s economic, political, and social development has expanded exponentially over the years as more Africans migrate outside the country.”
Brooklyn Park Mayor Hollies Winston will speak at the event which will also have former Central Bank of Kenya chairman Mohamed Nyaoga, current president of Mwanyagetinge Group Roselidah Nyaberi and Joseph Mecha of Mecha Financial Group, among others.
Click here for event access information or visit the AKIDOI website.
