When Africans Send Money Home, European
and North American Countries Profit Handsomely
By Shola Adenekan
Saturday, June 23, 2018.
When immigrants and expats from Africa – who
are based in Europe and North America - send money back home, the countries in
which they are based also make money from those transactions. Dispelling the myth that migrants only send
money back to developing countries, new analysis of World Bank data by Xpress
Money can reveal that the West has received over $1.5 trillion in such remittances
over the last ten years.
Highlighting the many occasions where money needs
to be transferred into the West – such
as by business travellers, shoppers and workers looking for opportunities –
Xpress Money found that one in every four dollars transferred via remittances
in 2017 was sent to Europe.
The recipients may be surprising, with France
receiving the most at $25bn, followed by Germany at $17 billion. The UK
is fourth as it makes $4bn.
The World Bank estimates that officially recorded remittances to
low- and middle-income countries reached $466 billion in 2017, an increase of
8.5 percent over $429 billion in 2016. Global remittances, which include flows
to high-income countries, grew 7 percent to $613 billion in 2017, from $573
billion in 2016.
According to the study, while receiving less than
developing nations, this analysis makes clear that the impact of remittances in
the West should not be underestimated – since 2008 the UK alone has received a
$50bn economic boost.
Sudhesh
Giriyan, Chief Executive Officer of Xpress Money says these findings should go a long way to dispelling the myth that
remittances are only boosting the economies of developing countries.
“Places like the UK and France
are also known to attract people all over the world to their famous education
institutions, with those studying relying on their family sending money to pay
for things like rent,” he says.
The World Bank says remittance inflows improved in all regions
and the top recipients of remittance in Africa by those in the Diaspora were Nigeria
($22 billion), and Egypt ($20 billion).
Remittances are expected to continue
to increase in 2018, by 4.1 percent to reach $485 billion. Global remittances
are expected to grow 4.6 percent to $642 billion in 2018.