Nigeria has topped the chart again in the 2011 estimated remittance flows to Africa from abroad according to the updated World Bank estimated data for the year released yesterday morning which puts the total remittance flows to Nigeria at $10.6B, Empowered Newswire reports.

A World Bank statement noted that in all remittance flows to developing countries, like Nigeria, are expected to total $351 billion this year, and worldwide remittances, including those to high-income countries, will reach $406 billion for the current calendar year.

Nigeria has a strong and growing Diaspora community, especially in the US, Europe and Asia, many of whom are responsible for this remittance flows

Quoting the newly updated World Bank brief on global migration and remittances, the World Bank said "the top recipients of officially recorded remittances, estimated for 2011, are India ($58 billion), China ($57 billion), Mexico ($24 billion), and the Philippines ($23 billion). Other large recipients include Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Vietnam, Egypt and Lebanon."

The updated data showed that while last year 2010 it was estimated that remittances flow into Nigeria from its people abroad would be $9.9B, when the actual figures came in, it was over $10B, at exactly, $10.045B.

In terms of the share of GDP of the remittances flow into Nigeria, while it was estimated at 4.1% last year, it was actually 4.5% in real terms afterwards.

Noting Nigeria's high ranking in the remittances chart, the World Bank report on Africa added that a few countries account for a substantial share of remittances to Sub-Saharan Africa and North Africa, and noted that "Nigeria’s $10 billion equaled about half of all officially recorded remittances to Sub-Saharan Africa in 2010."

The report disclosed that other large remittance recipients in dollar terms in Africa include Sudan, Kenya, Senegal, South Africa, and Uganda.

However, as a share of GDP, the largest recipients in Africa are Lesotho (28.5 percent), Togo (10.7 percent), Cape Verde (9.4 percent), Senegal (9.3 percent), and The Gambia (8.2 percent).

While the report deals with formal remittances, it is believed that a huge chunk of money are also being informally remitted to Nigeria and other countries.

Nonetheless, the report observed that "formal channels for remittances from outside Africa and within the
region are heavily dominated by money transfer companies, particularly Western Union."

For the Sub-Saharan African countries, according to the report, only about 2 percent of households receiving remittances from outside Africa use banks; "the share is slightly higher in Uganda (12.5 percent),
Kenya (16.2 percent) and Nigeria (22.3 percent)."

It was observed that "the role of other intermediaries—including post offices, microfinance institutions, savings and credit cooperatives, and new technologies such as Internet transfers and mobile money transfers—is even more limited for remittances from outside Africa," from where it is believed most of the remittances flow to countries like Nigeria are coming.

Recorded remittance flows to the African continent are similar in size to official aid flows, according to the report. For instance, they are several times larger than official aid to North Africa (3.3 percent of GDP versus 0.6 percent of GDP) and two-thirds the size of official aid flows to Sub-Saharan Africa (2.2 percent
of GDP versus 3.7 percent of GDP).

Equally, remittance flows in many African countries it was further disclosed "are larger than private capital flows, such as FDI and portfolio debt and equity flows."

According to the World Bank, "private capital flows are more important for South Africa, the largest economy in Sub-Saharan Africa, and for oil and mineral producers (for example, Angola, Gabon, and Sudan) that receive substantial FDI flows. But for many low-income African countries, remittances
exceed private investment flows and represent a lifeline to the poor."

It was also noted that while evidence on the implications of remittances for inequality is less
clear, "households that receive remittances, especially from outside Africa, may have been richer
to begin with (allowing a family member to migrate in the first place); they may also have higher incomes because of migration and the receipt of remittances."

Recent household surveys conducted as a part of the World Bank Africa Migration Project and an earlier survey in Ghana find that "more than half of households in Burkina Faso, Ghana, and Nigeria and 30 percent of households in Senegal receiving remittances from outside Africa are in the top two
consumption quintiles"

The report said by discouraging exclusive partnerships—for example, between
banks and international money transfer agencies—remittance costs would reduce, "benefiting both migrants and remittance recipients."

It stated that this discouragement of exclusive partnerships, has already led to policy changes in
some African countries and has been implemented by the Central Bank of Nigeria and by Rwandan authorities.

Indeed remittance costs have fallen steadily from 8.8 percent in 2008 to 7.3 percent in the third quarter of 2011 due to increasing competition in large volume remittance corridors such as UK-Nigeria and UAE-India.
However, remittance costs continue to remain high, especially in Africa and in small nations where remittances provide a life line to the poor.

Globally the World Bank said while the economic slowdown is dampening employment prospects for migrant workers in some high-income countries, global remittances, nevertheless, are expected to stay on a growth path and, by 2014, are forecast to reach $515 billion.

Of that, $441 billion will flow to developing countries, according to the latest issue of the Bank’s Migration and Development Brief, released yesterday at the fifth meeting of the Global Forum on Migration and Development in Geneva.

The World Bank said it has made considerable strides in developing financing instruments for leveraging migration and remittances for national development purposes. Diaspora bonds can be a powerful financial instrument for mobilizing diaspora savings to finance specific public and private sector projects, as well as to help improve the debt profile of the destination country. The Bank has established a Task Force on the Implementation of Diaspora Bonds to facilitate the provision of technical assistance to developing country governments.

http://saharareporters.com/news-page/remittance-flows-abroad-nigeria-over-10b-year-says-world-bank-empowered-newswire

Nor be small tin o!
All my money don finish for 'remittance' of boarding house school fees finish!

Am sure the SE takes up to 60-75%. Any nays? If yes, show your data.

If not for private/individual effort, many Nigerians would suffer. Nigerians have learnt the hard way that if you wait for government to help you out (as is the case in developed societies) you'll probably die of frustration. This 'private initiative' can be found in many areas like entertainment; education; sport; healthcare; community development schemes (Igbos seem to have perfected this a lot, as a result of decades of federal/state government neglect); remittances from abroad to unemployed loved ones; etc.

This private initiative is what i'm hoping would be done on a large/co-ordinated scale in the South East (in partnership with the relevant state governments- PPP) to bring rapid development to the region, b'cos if we wait for government (given the snail-speed they're known for), we'll still be talking of plans-for-this and plans-for-that 10 years from now.

Think of projects and intervention areas like the Onitsha River Port; Enugu Int'l Airport; 2nd Niger Bridge; Education; Healthcare; Hotels/Tourism; Road construction (eg, the Benin-Ore and Enugu-Port harcourt roads); etc. Some of these projects already approved, are taking forever to complete and i'm even suspecting that when done, the quality would not be cutting-edge and enduring. Check out on skyscrapercity.com the boring and basic design they've got for the 2nd Niger Bridge in this 21st century . A bold statement needs to have been made with such a strategic/long-awaited project, but b'cos it's for the South East, they're doing the basic minimum they can get away with. Pathetic!!!

Nigeria has been tops for a while. We are 160M.

And yet the Nigerian Senate won't allow Nigerians living abroad to vote from abroad?

Those people living abroad support a huge chunk of The Nigerian economy through remittances and trade. Both in the formal and informal sector.

It's dumb silly to disenfranchise them. Millions of Nigerians live off those remittances. Nigerians living abroad share the pain and burden of their family and relatives in Nigeria. They should have the opportunity to vote and choose who will control their lives too. A poorly governed Nigeria affects the pocket of Nigerians living abroad at the least. It definitely affects their lives.

They should let them vote from abroad.

@OP, so?

chino11:

Am sure the SE takes up to 60-75%. Any nays? If yes, show your data.

You really think this is something to rejoice over, don't you? The claim you made there would indicate that many more in the S.E depend to a great deal on handouts from their relatives abroad for their survival, and this would in turn imply that the S.E is in such a state that if you took away influx, the situation would probably be worse for people living in the posted zone. Essentially, your statement above suggests that the S.E economy, is to a greater degree, propped up by the handouts from oversea, than by actual progress in the region.

I am not surprised  - The largest black nation on earth.  My Monthly remittance alone feeds about 10 mouths > I just cant imagine what will happen to these people if the money stops.

blacksta:

I am not surprised  - The largest black nation on earth.  My Monthly remittance alone feeds about 10 mouths > I just cant imagine what will happen to these people if the money stops.

Remmitances from abroad is like a buffer against popular uprising.

With the way these people in Abuja steal public money ( 1.4 Trillion on Oil import contract within a few months )

If not for folks supporting their families from abroad, I'm sure we would have had an uprising in Nigeria. People can only go hungry for a period.

Kobojunkie:

You really think this is something to rejoice over, don't you? The claim you made there would indicate that many more in the S.E depend to a great deal on hando

Your analysis is so dumb and silly but I didn't expect less.Is that your spin on what he/she wrote?

Kobojunkie:

You really think this is something to rejoice over, don't you? The claim you made there would indicate that many more in the S.E depend to a great deal on handouts from their relatives abroad for their survival, and this would in turn imply that the S.E is in such a state that if you took away influx, the situation would probably be worse for people living in the posted zone. Essentially, your statement above suggests that the S.E economy, is to a greater degree, propped up by the handouts from oversea, than by actual progress in the region.

Though his percentage was pulled out from nowhere, but if it was right, it's not something we should be ashamed of.
We are proud to send money back home for people to stand on their feet. We don't just give people money to buy food rather we set them up to stand on their own. With multiplier effect coming into the equation, your guess is as good as mine.

This is why SE will always be up there.

Obiagu1:

Though his percentage was pulled out from nowhere, but if it was right, it's not something we should be ashamed of.
We are proud to send money back home for people to stand on their feet. We don't just give people money to buy food rather we set them up to stand on their own. With multiplier effect coming into the equation, your guess is as good as mine.

This is why SE will always be up there.

Wrong!!! It is something to be ashamed of. Note that the money being sent back is NO DIFFERENT from AID being provided to poor countries to help sustain them. Sending money back home for people to stand on their feet is at least admission that there is weakness in the region that does not allow this to happen without this injection.
Please do stop lying to yourself especially with such lines like the one in your post suggesting that 'people don't just give money to buy food' . . . . We all know the truth. Much of the remittances sent back to the country is not in payment on transactions between those overseas and those in Nigeria.
And what multiplier effect would you be referring to? Records have it that remittances has been witnessed tremendous increase over the last 20 years. Again what multiplier effect?

What I'd really love to know is how much is repatriated to home countries by Multi nationals like Shell, Chevron and Julius Berger. It's not one way traffic.

There is nothing bad/wrong with these remittances. . . your argument is pretty off

The chunk of those remittances land in Edo/Lagos axis.

Pukkah:

The chunk of those remittances land in Edo/Lagos axis.

^^^Care to explain how you arrived at the 'Edo' one?

^^^I didn't arrive at it. I have worked with those figures before. The East comes after Edo/Lagos axis before the SW states (minus Lagos).

I challenge anyone with contrary facts to present it.

As for 'edo' state, are you talking about the Italo-girls? Mehn forget it biko, those are peanuts compare to the Millions of Dollars Igbos are shipping down in cash and material from US, Canada, Europe, Japan, China. Igbos are the most traveled Africans, and you know how hard Igbos works that explains the lowest poverty rate in the East more especially in Anambra. The same cannot be said about your Edo state.

chino11:

As for 'edo' state, are you talking about the Italo-girls?  Mehn forget it biko, those are peanuts compare to the Millions of Dollars Igbos are shipping down in cash and material from US, Canada, Europe, Japan, China. Igbos are the most traveled Africans, and you know how hard Igbos works that explains the lowest poverty rate in the East more especially in Anambra. The same cannot be said about your Edo state.

No chino11.  First of all, it's not about my Edo or my Lagos, it's simply about FACTS. This is why I usually advise that you purge yourself of ethnic emotions when analyzing issues and trends.

Secondly, Nigeria is the largest recipient of remittance in Sub-Sahara Africa (SSA). The country receives nearly 65% of officially recorded remittance flows to the region and about 2% of global flows.

Most remittances into Nigeria originate from the US where an estimated 5million Nigerians live.  You see, since transaction flows of remittances tend to follow population patterns.  Therefore, highest volume of US transactions to Nigeria come from the highest Nigerian populated  states  - Texas, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, California, etc.

The main destination of these remittances is Lagos, which receives about 60% of the flows, followed by Edo axis.  This is closely followed by the East and West. I have all these percentages but there's no point disclosing such information at this point or even at all.

There are also other key corridors from where remittances come into Nigeria apart from the US - UK, Italy, etc.  These corridors also have their recipients spread in a similar way, apart for a few variations from some, to those previously listed.

You need to also note that we are talking about remittances here and not huge capital inflows or foreign direct investment which are made through bank accounts.  These remitances basically come via Western Union, MoneyGram, ChequePoint, etc.

If you have clarifications to make please feel free, I am at home with remittances.

I think you should first excrete the bigotry that you swim into. What do you mean by Edo axis? How can you say that Edo state commands more remittance than the SE. Do they travel more than Anambra people? Do they have more people in diaspora than Anambra people? Anambra alone records high remittance than Edo and SW (except lagos) put together. It is understandable due to globe trotting of Anambrans and Ndigbo in general.

^^^Who's into bigotry? I advise that you should weigh your words carefully before using them.

Did I use Edo alone or together with Lagos? You started using Edo alone. Without any fear of contradiction, the remittances into Lagos and Edo are more than that of SW+SE+SS (of course without Lagos and Edo).

Where's the bigotry in this except that which trails every post of yours. Mind you, I'm not even from Edo but facts don't lie whether you like it or not. Must you look for needless competition where there's none and spin information in order to arrive at your bigoted conclusions? Of what USE is this?

Can you share the data? Or point to where it can be found?

lol crazy thread o


OP

why not just change the title to Igbo come tops on dollar remittance to africa, you will get more brownie points

_{damn this people will fight with god if given the chance!!}

Benin girls,i hail una o.atleast una dey make naija proud with una talent.btw,how much do we repatriate to abroad through corruption ? Any idea ?

~Bluetooth:

Benin girls,i hail una o.atleast una dey make naija proud with una talent.btw,how much do we repatriate to abroad through corruption ? Any idea ?

Must you comment?

When did you become monitor ?

@ekt bear, I worked with the data and it's proprietary information that is not professional to disclose. However, I doubt if it exists on the internet at such level of detail - the spread of incoming remittances in Nigeria.

Pukkah:

@ekt bear, I worked with the data and it's proprietary information that is not professional to disclose. However, I doubt if it exists on the internet at such level of detail - the spread of incoming remittances in Nigeria.

Dont mind the usual noise-makers from landlocked zone in Nigeria.Everybody knows that bini people come first in sending money home.if you doubt it,check italy alone and see what's happening there.no offense to bini folks.

^^

Must you mention Italy. Anyways tell us more about Italy and Bini sef

Italy is the capital of bini kingdom.if you want to know more,ask the heir apparent to the throne of bini kingdom who's also the nigeria ambassador to italy.connect the dots and you will know how important italy is to an average bini man.forget spare parts we your brothers dey import !

Pukkah:

@ekt bear, I worked with the data and it's proprietary information that is not professional to disclose. However, I doubt if it exists on the internet at such level of detail - the spread of incoming remittances in Nigeria.

Hehe

Information wants to be free

Perhaps someone should Wikileak this proprietary data (hint, hint) 

Very interesting. I'd like to see a proper statistical breakdown of the figures, though.