Nigerian Diaspora and Remittances: Transparency and market development - Premium Times Nigeria

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Nigerian Diaspora and Remittances: Transparency and market development

Finding Nigerians in South America lately has been for me a surprise. Talking to a group of them in Chile as they were selling Chinese goods in the street was very interesting.

The Migration Policy Institute found that 29 per cent of the Nigerian diaspora older than 25, held a master’s degree, PhD or an advanced professional degree, compared to 11 per cent of the U.S. population overall. The NDC “has the responsibility to coordinate and organize Nigerians in and from the Diaspora to contribute human capital and material resources, including their expertise, for the development of Nigeria and its constituent states,” said Ita Enang, a Senator when officially announcing the passage of the Bill that created the NDC.

The largest number of Nigerians are found in Texas and the New York-New Jersey Metropolitan Area. There are pockets of Nigerians in the Washington, DC Area , Atlanta and Chicago . It is true of Nigeria, as it is for other countries, that many analysts dispute this estimate. But it must be stated that it is an estimate of remittances sent through formal channels and does not account for the informal channels.

The need for a sound compliance system and the few choices in terms of availability of paying institutions in the country was also a perceived problem. That brought a lot of turmoil to the market but in the subsequent months more MTOs were approved. That’s all past and gone as the CBN relaxed its rules, more companies have been authorized to cater to the Diaspora and pay through authorized institutions in the country. In my last count, there are more than 60 companies authorized by CBN.

As it has happened in many countries, the protection of banks against Telcos overtaking the mobile service market like it happened in Kenya has led regulators, pressured by banks, to let these local banks to develop their mobile banking & payment offerings before they allow Telcos to step in. It is a double-edge-sword-approach where only time will tell how beneficial to the country and the population this scheme is.

The third is more compelling: As a Bank, do I really want remittance clients? Do their use of other financial services is worthwhile to me, the bank? Do the foreign exchange differential that is received from remittances, worthwhile?

 

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