It is very disturbing news when I watched the news how a one Judith Nakintu,38, a migrant worker lost one of her kidneys, this is really broke my heart! Cases like this leave a lot to be done by the government to go ahead and close those loopholes in labour externalisation as a measure to attract diaspora investment and job creation into our country through venture capital.
Much as Hon. Betty Among, the minister of Labour and social development took an initiative to lead a delegation of members to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and UAE to among others to assess the status of implementation of Bilateral labour agreements, little has been done by government workers like Social media influencers, RDCs among others to come out and defend diaspora investment as a viable venture for youth employment amidst public uproar and negativity brought about by isolated body organ victims. As we speak the morale for labour export has gone low.
It is difficult to exaggerate the investment potential of diaspora funds. For context, Nigeria’s remittances in 2017 alone were larger than the combined foreign direct investment (FDI) brought into their country in the last ten years, as recorded by the National Bureau of Statistics. This is due to a combination of factors including more Nigerians exiting the country to well-paying jobs abroad.
According to the World Bank, in 2017, the Nigerian diaspora remitted $ 22 billion which is equivalent to the total of their total crude oil earnings which is the backbone of their economy. This is more than half of our total GDP which is estimated at $38b as of 2020.
What they lose in talent and human resources, they are able to regain it from remittances.
Amidst all this uncertainty brought about by two body organ victims, the government should come out strongly to defend labour export because these people are addressing capital gaps in businesses in Uganda.
The money they send back to friends and relatives is used to invest in local business hence creating more jobs for youths.
Government should also come out and reward exceptional labor firms like Premier recruitment, among others as a strategy to double our remittances. Currently, Uganda migrant workers contribute only $900m.
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The auhtor; Ben Ssebuguzi is a Secretary-general Uganda poor youth movement, entrepreneur, and Economist.
