Economic Roundtable of Diasporas — 9th Pan-African Congress
Period: December 2025
Client / context: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Togo / IOM (SDE4R project), in the margins of the 9th Pan-African Congress (African Union & African Development Bank)
Location: Lomé, Togo
CONTEXT
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Togo, in partnership with IOM, is developing a national diaspora engagement strategy — the SDE4R project — focused on mobilising diaspora contributions to private investment and entrepreneurship in Togo. The 9th Pan-African Congress, co-organised by the African Union and the African Development Bank, provided the convening moment for an Economic Roundtable on diaspora engagement. I was brought in to design and facilitate a session specifically focused on subnational engagement: how diaspora can and already does connect with cities, municipalities and territories, not just national governments.
MY ROLE
I was responsible for the thematic framing and facilitation design of the subnational session. My approach was deliberate: rather than opening with the question of 'how do we get the diaspora to invest locally?' (which risks treating diaspora as a resource to be mobilised), I reframed the session around recognising the engagement that already exists and designing policies that connect with where it naturally happens.
I identified and prepared a high-level panel of five speakers: the Togolese Minister of Territorial Planning and Development, a Togolese Mayor, the Ambassador of Senegal to Togo, a Senior IOM Specialist for Western and Central Africa, and a representative of the High Council of Togolese Abroad. I also secured the participation of a representative from Morocco's MFA, bringing comparative policy experience to the room.
I structured the session to surface concrete lessons from Senegal's and Morocco's diaspora engagement policies, created space for audience participation (the session fed directly into Togo's forthcoming national diaspora action plan), and maintained a tight focus on actionable outcomes throughout.
WHAT CAME OUT OF IT
A high-quality, outcomes-oriented dialogue at one of Africa's most significant political gatherings of 2025
Concrete perspectives and recommendations feeding into Togo's national diaspora engagement action plan (to be finalised in 2026)
Cross-country learning surfaced: Senegal and Morocco's subnational diaspora engagement frameworks presented and discussed
Recognition of existing diaspora-municipality linkages as the starting point for policy design, a reframe with implications beyond Togo
Extended visibility of the conversation beyond the room, including a televised interview on Afrique Média News TV highlighting the role of subnational actors in diaspora engagement
