The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Sola Enikanolaiye, has declared that the Nigeria Diaspora Investment Economic Conference (NIDEC) 2026 is not a diplomatic jamboree but a strategic platform for attracting investments, creating jobs and boosting foreign exchange inflows into Nigeria.
Enikanolaiye stated this on Monday while speaking with journalists at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, shortly before departing with a Federal Government delegation for the four-day conference in Toronto, Canada.
The Minister was responding to concerns that similar international engagements in the past had yielded little tangible results and were sometimes perceived as mere jamborees.
He said the Tinubu administration had repositioned Nigeria’s foreign policy around the 4Ds — Demography, Development, Democracy and Diaspora making result-oriented economic diplomacy a priority.
“This administration does not travel for jamborees. We travel for results. Mr. President has mandated a high-powered delegation led by the Chief of Staff to the President, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, because NIDEC 2026 is a deal room for Nigeria’s growth,” Enikanolaiye said.
According to him, the conference will strengthen Nigeria-Canada trade and investment relations, with the participation of senior Canadian officials, including the President of the Treasury Board, Hon. Shafqat Ali, as well as ministers from Ontario.
He said the engagement would provide opportunities for new trade agreements, small and medium enterprise partnerships and improved access for Nigerian products to the North American market.
On job creation and foreign exchange inflows, Enikanolaiye said the participation of key Nigerian institutions, including the Central Bank of Nigeria, Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission, Nigerian Export Promotion Council and the Nigeria Revenue Service, would enable the country to showcase incentives for diaspora capital repatriation, export expansion and remittance-backed investment.
“These are expected to boost foreign exchange inflow and create jobs at home,” he said.
The Minister also highlighted the participation of five state governors Anambra, Borno, Kaduna, Plateau and Zamfara saying their presence would help drive sub-national investment deals in infrastructure, agriculture, technology and mining.
He explained that bringing the governors into the investment drive would decentralise opportunities and enable investors to explore viable projects beyond Abuja.
On technology and skills transfer, Enikanolaiye said the participation of the Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency, Kashifu Inuwa, would support Nigeria’s efforts to secure partnerships in digital innovation, fintech and information technology capacity building.
He added that NIDEC 2026 was designed to deepen engagement with Nigerians in the diaspora by connecting investment-ready Nigerian projects with high-net-worth Nigerians and other international investors.
According to him, the conference would also help strengthen trust between the government and the Nigerian diaspora while addressing bottlenecks confronting Nigerians abroad who wish to invest in the country.
The Minister noted that Nigeria received more than $20 billion in diaspora remittances last year, stressing that the government was seeking to transform such financial flows into productive investments.
“NIDEC 2026 is economic diplomacy in action. Nigeria is open for business. And we are going to Toronto to close deals,” he said.
The four-day NIDEC 2026, themed “Invest Nigeria, Thrive Abroad,” is scheduled to hold from August 12 to 15, 2026, in Toronto, Canada.
The conference is organised by the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), in collaboration with the Nigerian High Commission in Ottawa and the Canadian High Commission in Abuja.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the conference would serve as a strategic bridge connecting global capital with bankable investment opportunities in Nigeria.
