"Digital in the service of the African diaspora"

The Diaspora and the digital: development factors of the African continent
The African diaspora is a population that results from the triangular trade of the sixteenth century. It corresponds to the continual emigration of the population outside the continent. Today, the African Union Commission defines it as "people of African descent living outside the African continent, who are eager to contribute to its development and to the construction of the African Union, whatever their Citizenship and nationality ". (Source 1)

The African diaspora maintains a strong cultural, emotional and financial link with its continent of origin. As she struggled to find ways to strengthen her involvement in the development of the continent and to maintain relations with their families of origin, today she is experiencing profound mutations amplified by the digital revolution. Thanks to digital tools, the African diaspora is now developing disruptive solutions to the service of Africa, in order to have social, economic and environmental impact.

The Diaspora: A pillar of Africa's development
Today, the diaspora is a pillar of the development of the African continent by becoming its main contributor. In fact, transfers of money from expatriates to their country of origin have steadily increased over the last ten years. In 2016, more than 60 billion million was transferred to the African continent, compared with 44.3 billion in 2007, an increase of 36%. (Source 2In particular, digital has strengthened the links between people. Social networks and instant messengers such as Facebook, Whatsapp or Skype allow different populations to be continually interconnected. Thus, the African Diaspora remains informed of the challenges and difficulties crossed by their country of origin and may be closer to reality. Thanks to the digital that gives them a real voice, she is no longer just an observer but a full-fledged actor. From now on, it can contribute to services such as health, education and/or the origin of innovations that meet concrete needs.

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Many of the current technological initiatives are proof of this. The start-up Africa Mobile For example, the African authorities interact with the citizens. The crowdfunding platform Afrikwity Accompanies the growth of the African continent, notably by allowing the African diaspora to invest in the companies that are developing in Africa. The start-up Niokobok And the start-up Afrimarket, on the other hand, enable the African diaspora to deliver products to local people from afar.

Thanks to the digital revolution, the African diaspora can engage more in the accompaniment of African start-ups, the provision of the Diaspora Network, investment (in time and money) within the technological start-ups, the Creation of international partnerships or by playing a role of North-south interface, through their double culture.

Digital as a local development tool
In the opposite direction, digital connects local and isolated populations to the diaspora and to the rest of the world. They benefit from the global information, the skills of its emigrant peers and are connected to the international reality. Thus, the latter can evolve more quickly while acquiring know-how that they could not otherwise have obtained.

Isahit: proof that digital is a unifying link and development factor
Digital, a tool for social inclusion, is therefore a solution in terms of development. Isahit has understood this by creating a platform, intelligent and socially responsible, of digital tasks that connects the local and isolated populations to the companies of the countries of the North, the South and the African diaspora. The start-up offers the possibility for its Hiteuses (socio-economically disadvantaged women of African countries and carriers of projects working for Isahit) to acquire skills that allow them to evolve professionally but also Socially. It enhances cooperation, mutual assistance and the dissemination of inter-and intra-country information through the animation of its "workers" community.

Isahit is in particular proof of the close relationship of the diaspora with its countries of origin. For example, Clarisse, an employee of the Isahit co-working space from the Ivorian diaspora, has put them in touch with people who are willing to join the team from the Ivory Coast. Isahit, through its platform, thus implicitly allows the African diaspora to become involved in the development of their territory and in the financial independence of their relatives who remained in the country.

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