This is Molise,
an Italian region that is willing to pay foreigners
€700 monthly which translates to N279,354 for
three years just to move to the region and set up a
business.
According to the President of Molise, they didn’t
want to offer funding so it wouldn’t be just another
charity gesture. They decided to go another route
and get something out of it as well.
“We wanted to do more; we wanted people to
invest here. They can open any sort of activity: a
bread shop, a stationery shop, a restaurant,
anything. It’s a way to breathe life into our towns
while also increasing the population.”
The catch is that the town you decide to move to
must have fewer than 2000 residents and you must
be willing to start a business.
He also announced that each town with fewer than
2,000 inhabitants would receive €10,000 (£9,000)
with which it would build infrastructure and promote
cultural activities.
“It’s not just a matter of increasing the population.
People also need infrastructure and a reason to
stay, otherwise we’ll end up back where we started
in a few years,” he said.
Due to the fact that a good number of people have
moved to larger cities, there is fear that these
underpopulated towns may turn to ghost towns.
Towns such as Sambuca, are determined do
anything it takes to survive and have adopted a
strategy that has become fashionable in the region:
sell, or practically give away, abandoned homes to
anyone willing to move in. The symbolic price of a
house is just €1 which is N400.
They would appreciate the influx of young people
with children who are willing to invest by starting up
business(es).
The International Organisation for Migration reports
that in the second quarter of 2018, Nigerians made
up 13 per cent of the migrant population in Italy, a
spot it shared with fellow West African state,
Guinea.
This should be welcome news at a time South
Africans are killing other Africans and asking them
to go back to their countries. Forgetting that
migration is a part of human nature This opportunity
should be explored.
Young-po Reporters 