[size=14pt]W’Bank: Nigerians Remit $10bn Home[/size]
By Festus Akanbi, 11.08.2009

With an estimated $10 billion inflow of foreign exchange from its citizens abroad this year, Nigeria yesterday emerged the sixth highest destination of remittances from citizens of developing nations in the Diaspora.

The World Bank, which gave the figure in its Migration and Develop-ment Brief released at the weekend said in the updated remittance flow table, India, China and Mexico retained the top three positions among developing countries and attracted funds up to $52 billion, $49 billion and $26 billion respectively.

The other constituents in the top 10 list include — Philippines ($19 billion, 4th), Poland ($11 billion, 5th), Romania ($9 billion, 7th), Bangladesh ($9 billion, 8th), Egypt ($9 billion, 9th) and Vietnam ($7 billion, 10th).

The multilateral institution predicted that  total remittance flow to developing countries, including India, will be around $317 billion this year, a lower-than-expected fall from the year-ago level, but will return to the recovery path in years to come.

The projected remittance flow this year would represent a 6.1 per cent fall from the 2008 level against the earlier expectation of a 7.3 per cent dip. As per the newly available data, the officially recorded remittance flow to developing countries reached $338 billion in 2008, higher than the previous estimate of $328 billion, it said.

The report further said that remittance flows this year as well as in the days to come is likely to witness certain risks, and are expected to slow down “in a lagged response to a weak global economy”.

In the coming days, remittance flows in all regions are likely to face three downside risks: a jobless economic recovery, tighter immigration controls and unpredictable exchange rate movements. “With this sluggish pace of recovery, remittance flows are unlikely to reach the 2008 level even by 2011,” the World Bank said as remittance flows could witness significant risks, pursuant to the global slump.

So far this year, South Asia saw better-than-expected remittance flows. Remittance to Pakistan rose by 24 per cent in the first eight months of 2009 on a year-on-year basis. For Bangladesh, it was 16 per cent and for Nepal, 13 per cent.

Regarding India, the report said among other factors, “exchange rate depreciation and widening interest rate differentials encouraged remittances to India for investment purposes.” Besides, developing countries with migrants in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and the Philippines have experienced smaller decline in remittance flows. However, remittance flows to countries in the Latin America and the Caribbean region until the third quarter of 2009 show larger declines than expected earlier.

OAM4J:

Well done guys.
How come somebody said Nigerians abroad are stingy?- https://www.nairaland.com/Nigeria/topic-62827.0.html

RichyBlacK:

This $10 billion does more for the average Nigerian than the $$$ the useless Nigerian government steals every day!

naijaking1:

I would have loved to see a breakdown by regions.

oyinda.:

interesting.

rotfl. why?

OAM4J:

OK this is a joke

A man who just got a visa to travel abroad went to the father for prayers. Then the father prayed “It will not be easy for you o” the son looked at the father “Papa that is a curse”, and the father answered “Just like your brothers who went before you always complain things are not easy for them and today they have cars and houses home and abroad, same way it will also not be easy for you”… The guy didn’t know weather to say amen or not… 

Moral of the joke… despite the depression and hardship we still contribute a wholesome $10b to naija economy, somebody should give us some credit.

bibiking1:

I can't believe richyblack is a moderator

KunleOshob:

Well considering the fact that Nigeria's GDP is in excess of $180 billion [and that is taking into account only the legitimate and formal aspect of the economy which actually accounts for less than 50% of the National economy] one would realize that the so called $10 billion being sent home is peanuts. I would like a comparrison with how much is being siphoned out yearly, stashed away abroad by our politicians and sent to support our struggling brothers over there. I am sure this would be well in excess of the $10 billion our diaspora folks are getting excited about.

KunleOshob:

Well considering the fact that Nigeria's GDP is in excess of $180 billion [and that is taking into account only the legitimate and formal aspect of the economy which actually accounts for less than 50% of the National economy] one would realize that the so called $10 billion being sent home is peanuts. I would like a comparrison with how much is being siphoned out yearly, stashed away abroad by our politicians and sent to support our struggling brothers over there. I am sure this would be well in excess of the $10 billion our diaspora folks are getting excited about.

OAM4J:

Of the $180b you quoted how much really got to the downtrodden masses of Nigeria? large bulk of the $10b were given in response to genuine and urgent needs of the people.

And for God sake you call $10b peanut!!!. What we are talking about is N1.5trillion. What is the annual budget of the FG?

Beaf:


It is a cool [size=14pt]61%[/size] of the proposed N2.46 Trillion budget for 2010 http://allafrica.com/stories/200910080502.html

PeeDaVinci:

what about the cost of the goods (cars, phones, clothes, furnitures, raw materials etc) sent back home ?? anybody to put a value on that??

diggler:

I aint no diasporan, but i've gotta give a big shout out to our hustlers out there.

Y'all are really keeping this economy afloat (at least for the common man)

i know a lot of so called Big boys back here, who have been given chances to travel out by family out there, but refused simply becos they know if they leave, they will have to work for every cent as opposed to flexing on their ppls sweat blood back home.

Also, i feel that if these remittances capture the informal & other aspects, the figure is closer to $20billion.

Some of my diasporan peeps, even boast of wealth over here that makes the life they live ove there such an irony

jara:

May God bless you my broda. They are trying to divide us and conquer us. Home based or Diasporan, we all feel the same pain for Nigeria. Selfishness has taken away our culture to be our brother's keeper. We must focus on defeating the forces of evil so that Nigeria can return to the average man like me and you.

OAM4J:

@princek12

The issue is not wether the diaspora has a successful career/bussiness or does a menial job. The issue here is that these diasporans make a huge contribution to Nigeria economy and they should be appreciated.

bibiking1:

I can't believe richyblack is a moderator