A World Bank report has disclosed that remittance to Nigeria and other countries in Sub-Saharan Africa has reached $53 billion in 2022. This represents an increase of 5.2 per cent when compared with 2021.
“Remittances to Sub-Saharan Africa, the region most highly exposed to the effects of the global crisis, grew an estimated 5.2 per cent to $53 billion in 2022, compared with 16.4 per cent last year (due mainly to strong flows to Nigeria and Kenya),” the report said.
According to the World Bank report on Migration and Development, prepared by the bank’s Migration and Remittances Unit and Development Economy, remittance has constituted an important part of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for a number of African countries.
For example, Remittances as a share of GDP in the Gambia is 28 per cent while it stood at 21 per cent in Lesotho, the report noted.
The report added that remittances are an important source of household income for most Low and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs).
Through remittances, most of the households in the LMICSs have been able to survive harsh economic conditions such as the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Remittances are a vital source of household income for LMICs. They alleviate poverty, improve nutritional outcomes, and are associated with increased birth weight and higher school enrollment rates for children in disadvantaged households”.
The World Bank noted that although the rising price of goods has adversely affected migrant incomes, the reopening of the economy and international borders has led to the increase of remittance inflow into Sub-Saharan Africa.
Meanwhile, the global banker acknowledges that countries that witnessed scarcity of foreign exchange rates or multiple exchange rates officially recorded a decline in remittances inflow as migrants shift to alternative channels which promise better rates.
The report noted that sending funds back home from some countries in Europe and America could attract a transaction fee that is as high as 7.8 percent on average.
