Diaspora-initiated forums

While diaspora forums have been initiated by a number of African governments, Niger’s diaspora has demonstrated that such initiatives can be diaspora-led. For instance, although the state organised a diaspora forum in 2012, the Nigerien diaspora in France arranged diaspora meetings (“rencontres”) in Europe in 2016 and 2019. Both were strategically organised in the city of Lille to facilitate access to Nigeriens in France and the UK, Belgium and the Netherlands. The meetings serve as an interesting example of the diaspora initiating forums themselves before engaging state representatives (the Delegate-Minister for Nigeriens Abroad chaired the 2019 meeting, for instance).