English: Summary Profile of Councillor Collins Nweke: Collins Nweke is Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Global Village, a firm of Management Consultants. The firm specializes in International Development and Marketing Intelligence with offices in Belgium and a subsidiary in Nigeria, where it is brand owners of Nigeria Human Capital in partnership with the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management of Nigeria. The firm provides bespoke international development advisory services for public sector clients as well as marketing consultancy for private clients in, or targeting, the emerging markets. Prior to this, Collins was active as Public Policy Adviser for a Belgian Municipality, where he set up a Law Research Centre for the Social Welfare Directorate. He had consulted for the European Union (Justice & Home Affairs Directorate) advising on policy issues in relation to Diaspora participation in European business and politics, contributing between 1999 and 2003 to major policy developments that translated into a more tolerable and humane ethnic minority policies of EU Member States. Collins was lead consultant for numerous corporate entities in the area of investment flow to Africa, including Commonwealth Business Council, Nigerian Stock Exchange, African Business Roundtable, African Diaspora Investment, to name but a few. He provided consultancy to several Nigerian Banks in the run-up to the financial sector reforms and in the development of their Diaspora products. Collins made history in 2006 in his Belgian political constituency of West Flanders as the first African and first generation migrant to be elected to a Municipal Council. Collins was re-elected with 12% higher electoral votes in 2012 for a second term of office running through 2018. His portfolio as Honourable Councillor includes the Economy & Business, International Development, Social Policy and Equality Affairs.

Nigerian Diaspora Policy Initiatives Collins served as Executive Secretary at the London Headquarters of Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation Europe from 2003 – 2006. In 2007 he was invited to serve on the Board of the organisation, where he was General Secretary, doubling as European Union Representative, an opportunity he used not only to breathe new life into a struggling organisation at the time but also to facilitate, initiate or consolidate modest gains in the following policy areas: - Out-of-Country Voting for Nigerians in Diaspora, of which he initiated early research leading to the invitation of Nigerians in Diaspora, for the first time, to serve in the National Political Reforms Conference in 2005 - Initiate contacts with institutions of the European Union preparatory to project funding for relevant NIDO businesses - Improved Chapter – Headquarters Relations - Collaboration with other continental arms of NIDO, served in Joint Committees - Establishment of a USD200 Million Diaspora Investment Fund, whose operational take-off was hampered by the global financial meltdown - Development of the Global Database of Nigerians in Diaspora and chairing the Business Development Committee - Alternate Delegate to the Steering Committee of Vision 2020 of the National Planning Commission - Sealing of key Sponsorship deals running into tens of thousands of Dollars to finance the organisation. As current Chairman, Board of Trustees of NIDO Europe (2011 – 2013) Collins Nweke is focusing on Trade & Investment, development of a National Diaspora Policy for Nigeria and redefinition of the role and place of NIDO in national development of Nigeria.

Personalia

Collins Nweke is of Ibusa, Delta State extraction, born 14 July 1965 and has dual EU-Nigerian citizenship. Widely travelled, he trained in Mass Communications, International Business (BCom) Social Economy (MSE) and Business Policy, partly in Nigeria and mainly in Europe. Collins travels frequently to Nigeria but is based in Belgium with his wife and two young adult sons.