In this think piece, Dr. Jason Gagnon argues that Direct Diaspora Investment (DDI) is fundamentally distinct from Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and that treating the two as identical is a significant policy mistake. While traditional FDI is driven by scale and risk-adjusted returns, DDI operates on a unique logic that blends financial motives with relational capital, including local market knowledge, language, and family ties. As global mobility increasingly shifts toward South-South migration, DDI offers a strategic opportunity to anchor domestic growth and finance local supply chains that FDI rarely reaches. To learn more about how governments can move from symbolic outreach to building the “boring middle” of DDI infrastructure, you can download the full report here.
