Diaspora Week Lagos: two weeks to connect the diaspora with business opportunities

A programme for investors, entrepreneurs and creatives from the diaspora runs in Lagos until 9 November. What it will deliver is too early to say: the sources give no amounts or signed deals.

Since 27 October, Lagos has been the setting for Diaspora Week, a two-week experience from Amplify Africa for professionals, creatives, investors and entrepreneurs from the diaspora. The programme runs until 9 November 2026. Business Insider Africa headlined that Nigerians abroad are returning with capital, connections and big business ambitions. We couldn't open that page, so we can only report the headline. We found no concrete amounts or signed deals in any source.

According to Amplify Africa, the programme aims to show Lagos through cultural institutions, businesses and creative communities. The emphasis is on connections that go beyond ordinary tourism. Participants are invited to see the city as a place to learn, collaborate and explore opportunities. Ijeoma Ejimadu of Amplify Africa writes in her newsletter that the goal is not just to experience Lagos, but to understand it.

Joining in with what is already happening

The organisers did not build a conference of their own. According to Ejimadu, participants plug into major events that are already taking place in the city, such as Lagos Fashion Week, ART X Lagos, AFRIFF, Moonshot by TechCabal and the Africa Prosperity Summit. They did not want a conference where everyone sits in a hall for two days, swaps business cards and flies home again.

The official opening took place on 27 October with a reception in Lagos. It was co-hosted by Amanar Group, a talent and project management company, in partnership with Amplify Africa, The Temple Company and Levitikal Group. According to ThisDay, whose report reads like a press release, creatives, entrepreneurs, investors and officials from the diaspora and Nigeria came together. Amanar leader AQT said that African excellence is constantly being taken abroad and that it is time for the world to come to Africa and see it for itself.

The first week, from 27 October to 1 November, centred on fashion, business and technology. According to Amplify Africa, the programme included visits to Nigerian brands such as Andrea Iyamah, RENDOLL and Dabota Beauty. The Africa Prosperity Summit brings together investors, fund managers, policymakers and founders around the flow of capital in African markets. A visit to the Dangote refinery is also planned.

From 4 to 9 November, the focus shifts to film and art. A visit to Rele Art Gallery is on the programme, along with access to Afreximbank's CANEX. ART X Lagos and AFRIFF take place during the same period, but they require separate tickets.

Who is coming, and why

This is a deliberately chosen group. Ejimadu writes that the organisers did not want to bring 500 people to Lagos, but a smaller group that can genuinely engage with the ecosystem. Among the official delegates she names Meagan Good-Majors, Jonathan Majors, Eniola Popoola and Jemilah Alghali.

The motives vary. For some in the group, according to Ejimadu, it is about moving from a general investment idea to real market knowledge. Others mainly want to know who the key players are and where collaboration is possible. Diaspora members who already live in Lagos can take part too. According to Ejimadu, they are looking for a different network from the one they are already in.

According to Ejimadu, the initiative received support from the Lagos State Diaspora Office and the group around Obi Asika. The Africon Global website says the programme is aimed at the diaspora from Africa and the Caribbean. For the six-day version, the site lists accommodation, transport, some meals and access to the planned programme.

CANEX WKND: the biggest stage of the week

From 5 to 8 November, CANEX WKND 2026 takes place at the Wole Soyinka Centre for Culture and Creative Arts in the National Theatre Complex in Iganmu, Lagos. Afreximbank organises this platform for the creative and cultural industries under the theme "One People, United in Culture, Creating for the World". According to Music in Africa, the event covers fashion, music, film, literature, art, gastronomy and sport. Visitor registration is free, according to the organisers.

The programme includes a Finance Summit with Deal Room, the CANEX Shorts film competition, the Jollof Wars and a Music Factory with a songwriting camp, Galaxy TV reports, based on a statement from Afreximbank. At the previous edition in Algiers in 2024, deals worth more than 540 million dollars were facilitated and agreed, according to Afreximbank spokesperson Vincent Musumba. Those figures come from the organiser itself. No such figure is known yet for the Lagos edition.

Literature takes part as well. In August, Afreximbank announced that the CANEX Prize for Publishing is now also open to publishers from the Caribbean CARICOM countries. The winner will be announced during CANEX WKND in Lagos. According to Musumba, the Lagos edition also serves as a dress rehearsal for the Intra-African Trade Fair that Nigeria will host in November 2027.

Money that has been flowing back for years

The diaspora has long been an important source of money for Nigeria. In an opinion piece on TechCabal dated 23 July 2026, author Pelumi Esho writes that Nigeria receives roughly 20 billion dollars in remittances every year, about 70 percent of which goes straight to household consumption. He cites 21.81 billion dollars for 2024 and 21.8 billion for 2025. These are the author's figures and not an official count.

Esho asks whether those remittances are not the most underused source of patient capital. According to him, there are currently no diaspora bonds of any significance and no savings products denominated in foreign currency for Nigerians abroad. He argues for reliable investment products, such as bonds and funds for housing finance and small businesses.

Costs play a role too. According to the World Bank, as quoted by BusinessDay, sending 200 dollars to Nigeria cost 7.9 percent on average at the end of 2023. The United Nations target is 3 percent. Taiwo Oyedele, chair of a presidential taskforce on tax reform, said in 2024, according to African Business, that most of the money sent home never physically reaches Nigeria, because apps keep the foreign currency abroad. How that compares today with the investment plans of the delegates, the sources leave open.

What this means

Diaspora Week shows that contact between the diaspora and the continent is increasingly organised, rather than running through family or friends. A two-week programme brings together visits, meetings and culture. Whether it leads to real investment will only become clear after 9 November. The organisers have not yet published any results. We found nothing in the sources about participation from the Netherlands.

Want to read more? The original report is on Business Insider Africa. The programme and reports can be found at Amplify Africa, in Ijeoma Ejimadu's newsletter and on Afreximbank's CANEX WKND site.

Bronnen

• Business Insider Africa
• Amplify Africa
• ThisDay
• The Culture and Capital (Substack)
• TechCabal
• Pulse Kenya
• Ijeoma Ejimadu, The Culture and Capital (Tuning back into Diaspora Week Lagos)
• Ijeoma Ejimadu, The Culture and Capital (Behind the scenes)
• Ijeoma Ejimadu, The Culture and Capital (Who we are building for)
• Africon Global, Diaspora Week