Nigeria-USA Chamber to raise $1bn diaspora fund to help plug infrastructural gap

The Nigeria-USA Chamber of Commerce (NUSACC) has concluded plans to hold a summit where at least $1 billion Diaspora funds will be mobilised to help plug infrastructure gap in Nigeria.

The 5th International Summit will take place between August 27 and 29, 2015, at Mayflower Renaissance Hotel in Washington DC, the United States.

A statement by Primus Igboaka, secretary, NUSACC, disclosed that the summit will feature networking and match-making.

According to Igboaka, who is also an adjunct professor of communication at Kent State University, Ohio, the business-to-business match-making event will provide opportunities for personal interactions between United States business leaders and Nigerian entrepreneurs, while also creating a platform for them to showcase their products and services.

“They are avenues for market meetings, presentations and match-making between businesses and key industry players,” said Igboaka, who added that players in agriculture, construction and real estate, energy & power, information and communication technology (ICT) and franchising, among others, are expected to be there.

Adebowale Adefuye, Nigerian Ambassador to USA, will be the key note speaker. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, former minister of finance and coordinating minister for the economy; and Habib Baba Habu, consul- general of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, will also be there as speakers.

Other distinguished speakers expected at the Washington Summit are Catherine Uju Ifejika, chair/CEO Britannia Nigeria Limited; William Fanjoy, director of Virginia/Washington DC U.S. Export Assistance Centers;  Tom Foster, national spokesperson for the Mass Mutual Financing Group, and Harry Alford, president/CEO, National Black Chamber of Commerce, Washington, DC.

The Nigeria-USA Chamber of Commerce, incorporated in 2009 in the State of Ohio as a non-profit organisation, functions as a unique business and legislative advocacy organisation comprising members and professionals with business management, finance and accounting backgrounds.

It has successfully hosted business summits in the United States and Nigeria that attracted more than 1500 interested businesses and entrepreneurs ready to explore the business opportunities in both countries.

In 2012, it hosted its 3rd International Business Summit in Lagos, which brought together more than 24 United States businesses to explore opportunities in Nigeria. The summit witnessed investment of huge funds by US. businesses in Nigeria.

The U.S. companies that made investments cut across players in construction, transport logistics and courier services, real estate and cosmetics. These companies currently have offices in Lagos and are expanding to other parts of the country, a statement by the organisation said.