- Diaspora Inflows to Hit $34.8bn in 3 Years – PwC
The significance of diaspora inflows can not be overemphasised despite the lack of growth strategy to broaden its implementation.
In the last four years, diaspora inflows have exceeded Nigeria’s oil revenues and experts have said that number could be much higher if other undocumented inflows through informal channels are formalized.
A recent report by PwC, titled ‘Strength from Abroad: The Economic Power of Nigeria’s Diaspora’, explained that with the right strategy diaspora Nigerians could play a bigger role in nation-building.
PwC projected that remittances from diaspora Nigerians could grow as high as US$34.8 billion in three years from the current $25 billion. The company sees US$25.5 billion, US$29.8 billion and US$34.8 billion in 2019, 2021 and 2023, respectively.
Andrew Nevin, partner and chief economist, PwC, said the government needs a strategy to take complete advantage of growing diaspora inflows. He noted that the recently established Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) is an indication that the Federal Government now realises the importance of diaspora contribution to national growth.
He posited that “the key next steps for the newly established Commission are to formulate and execute a strategy to maximise the benefits of Nigeria’s diaspora.”
In 2018, World Bank put annual remittance inflows to low and middle-income nations at $529 billion, a 9.6 percent higher than the $483 billion recorded in 2017.
While in sub-Saharan Africa, Nigeria accounts for over one-third of immigrant inflows to the continent with 2018 diaspora remittance representing 83 percent of the 2018 budget.
“Nigeria is not an oil producing country. Nigeria is a human capital producing country because diaspora flows far exceed gross oil revenue receipts,” Mr. Ike Chioke, the Managing Director, Afrinvest West Africa Limited said in May 2019.
Nigeria’s diaspora remittance stood at $25 billion in 2018, according to the World Bank, that number is 10.1 times more than the FDI recorded in the same year.
“We’re very keen to see state governments start to engage the diaspora. The primary benefits of remittances to recipient households is the improvement in their general welfare, and studies show that 70 percent of remittances are used for consumption purposes, while 30 percent of remittance funds go to investment-related uses,” Nevin said.
“So it is important that Nigeria has a diaspora strategy both at the national and state level,” he added.
