The Federal Government has launched a formal campaign to recover financial losses suffered by Nigerian entrepreneurs forced to abandon their businesses in South Africa. Acting High Commissioner Alexander Ajayi confirmed the move during a televised interview on Tuesday. He said the government will document every shop, vehicle and property left behind by returnees and present the evidence to Pretoria for compensation negotiations.
Ajayi revealed that the first batch of documentation was completed on Monday. Returnees were instructed to submit sworn affidavits listing assets, purchase receipts, lease agreements and photographs of their businesses. The Nigerian mission in Johannesburg has already begun cross-referencing these records with South African business registries and municipal property rolls. A joint verification team comprising officials from both foreign ministries is scheduled to commence field inspections next week.
The compensation drive follows the voluntary evacuation of 594 Nigerians over the past three weeks. The returnees arrived in Lagos aboard three Air Peace charter flights. Each flight carried an average of 198 passengers, most of whom operated small retail outlets, taxi services and beauty salons in Johannesburg, Pretoria and Cape Town. Preliminary estimates suggest the total value of abandoned assets exceeds $12 million, though the figure could rise as more returnees submit documentation.
South African authorities have not yet responded to the compensation demand. However, diplomatic sources indicate that Pretoria is under pressure from its own business community to resolve the dispute swiftly. The South African Chamber of Commerce warned that prolonged tension could deter future Nigerian investment, which currently stands at $3.2 billion annually. The chamber has proposed a bilateral compensation fund financed by both governments to settle claims within 90 days.
The Federal Government has also established a returnee support unit within the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs. The unit will provide temporary housing, vocational training and low-interest loans to help returnees re-establish businesses in Nigeria. Minister Betta Edu announced that the first disbursement of N500,000 per returnee will begin next Monday. The funds will be sourced from the Presidential Intervention Fund and repaid over five years at a 3% interest rate.
Returnees interviewed at Murtala Muhammed International Airport described a climate of escalating hostility. Emmanuela, a 34-year-old fashion designer from Lagos, said she received death threats after her boutique was vandalised in May. "They broke my display windows and stole 12 designer gowns. The police refused to investigate because I am Nigerian," she said. Another returnee, Sandy Oris, lost a grocery store in Soweto that he had operated for 14 years. "They looted everything. I came back with only the clothes on my back," he said.
The compensation demand exposes deeper structural tensions in South Africa’s immigration system. Ajayi rejected claims that most Nigerians in South Africa are undocumented. He said the majority entered legally but were trapped in a backlog of 450,000 pending residency applications. The South African Home Affairs Department has blamed the delays on a cyberattack that crippled its online application portal in 2024. The department has since outsourced document processing to a private contractor, but the backlog persists.
The Federal Government’s compensation campaign could set a precedent for other African countries grappling with xenophobic violence. Ghana and Zimbabwe have already signalled interest in pursuing similar claims for their citizens affected by the June 30 protests. The African Union has convened an emergency meeting of foreign ministers next week to discuss a continental framework for protecting migrant investments. Nigeria’s Foreign Affairs Minister Yusuf Tuggar will lead the delegation and present a proposal for a pan-African compensation mechanism.
