Money as a Tool – Finance, Venture Philanthropy, Trade and Economy
Ethan Zuckerman
Emeka Okafor, of Timbuktu Chronicles fame, highlights a paper about the Nigerian diaspora on his new blog, Africa Unchained. The paper, by Nigerian scholar Uche Nworah, is about the role of the Nigerian diaspora in nation building, and focuses in part on remittance - the money Nigerians living and working abroad send to family and friends at home.
It's difficult to overstate the importance of remittance income to most African nations and many developing nations. Nworah cites a figure of $300 billion dollars sent from diasporas to developing nations via remittance. In Africa, the amount of money remitted by diaspora workers - $17 billion per year - is larger than the amount of foreign direct investment in Africa, and rivals official development assistance grants or loans ($25 billion per year). In some African nations, remittance represent as much as 27% of the gross domestic product of some nations. According to the UN's Office of the Special Advisor on Africa, the average African migrant living in a developed nation is sending $200 per month home to his or her family.
While remittance income is incredibly important for the developing world, there are at least four major problems with the remittance system as it currently exists: cost, safety, potential for misuse, and scale issues:
Continue reading 'Remittance - New Ways to Send Money Home'"
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment