Nigeria Records 27% Drop in Diaspora Remittances

Diaspora remittances to SubSaharan Africa declined by an estimated 12.5 per cent in 2020 to $42 billion, almost entirely due to a 27.7 per cent decline to Nigeria, which accounts for over 40 per cent of such flows to the region, the World Bank has disclosed.

The bank in the latest Migration and Development Brief, revealed that excluding Nigeria, remittance flows to Sub-Saharan African increased by 2.3 per cent with a 37 per cent growth reported in Zambia, Mozambique (16 per cent), Kenya (nine per cent) and Ghana (five per cent).

It stated: “Remittances to Sub-Saharan Africa declined by an estimated 12.5 per cent in 2020 to $42 billion. The decline was almost entirely due to a 27.7 percent decline in remittance flows to Nigeria, which alone accounted for over 40 per cent of remittance flows to the region.

“Excluding Nigeria, remittance flows to SubSaharan African increased by 2.3 per cent. Remittance growth was reported in Zambia (37 per cent), Mozambique (16 per cent), Kenya (9 per cent) and Ghana (5 per cent).”

In 2021, remittance flows to the region are projected to rise by 2.6 per cent, supported by improving prospects for growth in high-income countries.

The report noted that data on remittance flows to Sub-Saharan Africa are sparse and of uneven quality, with some countries still using the outdated Fourth IMF Balance of Payments Manual rather than the Sixth, while several other countries do not report data at all.

Giving further insight, the report said: “High-frequency phone surveys in some countries reported decreases in remittances for a large percentage of households even while recorded remittances reported by official sources report increases in flows.