(3 minutes read)
· According to the World Bank, over the past 20 years or so, the amount remitted by migrants from Sub-Saharan Africa increased tenfold- from US$4.8 billion in 2000 to US $48 billion in 2018
· Nigeria, which has a sizable Diaspora across the world, is by far the largest recipient of remittance flows with US$23.8 billion
According to the World Bank, over the past 20 years or so, the amount remitted by migrants from Sub-Saharan Africa increased tenfold- from US$4.8 billion in 2000 to US $48 billion in 2018. But, the Covid-19 is likely to play spoil sport. Africans Diaspora is sending less and less money to the continent.
The World Bank says that Sub Saharan African countries will see remittance flows drop by 23.1% to US$37 billion in 2020 in the wake of the Covid-19 economic crisis. In 2019 it dipped by 0.5% to $48 billion. The Bank forecasts there will be a 4% recovery to US$38 billion in remittances flows in 2021.
Nigeria, which has a sizable Diaspora across the world, is by far the largest recipient of remittance flows with US$23.8 billion in 2019 followed by Ghana (US$3.5 billion) and Kenya (US$2.8 billion). In South Sudan, remittances of US$1.3 billion accounted for 34% of its GDP, the highest in the region.
