<\/p>\n
Remittance inflow to Nigeria dropped by 28 per cent in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Bank has said.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The bank added that remittance flows fell for sub-Saharan Africa by 12.5 per cent, according to its Migration and Development Brief 33 Phase 11 entitled: \u201cCOVID-19 Crisis Through a Migration Lens\u2019\u2019 published on Thursday.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The report said the decline in remittance flows to Nigeria was largely responsible for the fall in remittance flows to sub-Saharan Africa.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThe decline in flows to sub-Saharan Africa was almost entirely due to a 28 per cent decline in remittance flows to Nigeria.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cExcluding flows to Nigeria, remittances to sub-Saharan Africa increased by 2.3 per cent, demonstrating resilience,\u2019\u2019 the report stated.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n According to the report, the relatively strong performance of remittance flows during the COVID-19 crisis has also highlighted the importance of timely availability of data.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n It stated that given its growing significance as a source of external financing for low and middle-income countries, there was need for better collection of data on remittances.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n It emphasised that there was need for better collection of data on remittances, in terms of frequency, timely reporting, and granularity by corridor and channel.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n With global growth expected to rebound further in 2021 and 2022, remittance flows to low and middle- income countries are expected to increase by 2.6 per cent to $553bn in 2021 and by 2.2 per cent to $565bn in 2022.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The report stated that global average cost of sending $200 remained high at 6.5 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2020, more than double the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) target of three per cent.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n It stated that sub-Saharan Africa continued to have the highest average cost (8.2 per cent) adding that supporting the remittance infrastructure and keeping remittances flowing includes efforts to lower fees.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The true size of remittances, which includes formal and informal flows, is believed to be larger than officially reported data, though the extent of the impact of COVID-19 on informal flows is unclear.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cAs COVID-19 still devastates families around the world, remittances continue to provide a critical lifeline for the poor and vulnerable,\u201d said Michal Rutkowski, Global Director of the Social Protection and Jobs Global Practice at the World Bank.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cSupportive policy responses, together with national social protection systems, should continue to be inclusive of all communities, including migrants,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Remittance inflow to Nigeria dropped by 28 per cent in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Bank has said. The bank added that remittance flows fell for sub-Saharan Africa by 12.5 per cent, according to its Migration and Development Brief 33 Phase 11 entitled: \u201cCOVID-19 Crisis Through a Migration Lens\u2019\u2019 published […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1073,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[15,4],"tags":[111,647,223],"class_list":["post-1072","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-news","category-economy","tag-nigeria","tag-remittances-inflow","tag-world-bank"],"yoast_head":"\n