Nigeria’s diaspora remittances to fall by $2bn –World Bank

The World Bank Group, a Washington-based lender, in its 40-page report titled, ‘Migration and Development Brief 33’ , said Nigeria’s diaspora remittances could fall by $2 billion or 8.4% to $21.7 billion in 2020 relative to the $23.8 billion recorded in 2019.

The report which was issued on Monday, November 2, 2020, attributed the potential drop to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on national economies around the world.

It read in part, “Remittances are helping to address the impact on African households. Nigeria remains the largest recipient of remittances in the region and is the seventh largest recipient among LMICs (Low and Middle Income Countries), with projected remittances to decline to around $21.7 billion, a more than $2 billion drop compared with 2019″.

It is projected that the amount of money migrant workers send home will taper by 14 per cent globally next year, compared to the pre-pandemic levels in 2019.

The World Bank similarly expects inflows to LMICs to drop by 7 per cent to $508 billion in 2020, with a further slump of 7.5 per cent, to $470 billion in 2021.

The report forecasted that the decline in 2020 and 2021 would affect all regions, with the sharpest fall expected in Europe and Central Asia (by 16 per cent and eight per cent respectively), and followed by East Asia and the Pacific (11 per cent and four per cent), the Middle East and North Africa (eight per cent and eight per cent), Sub-Saharan Africa (nine per cent and six per cent), South Asia (four per cent and 11 per cent) and Latin America and the Caribbean (0.2 per cent and eight per cent).