Nigeria’s remittance inflows surpassed foreign aid in 2018, PwC says

Remittances into Nigeria was 6.8 times larger than the net foreign aid of $3.4 billion received in 2018, a member  of the global Tax and investment advisory, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) Limited said Tuesday.

Migrant remittances was 77.2 per cent of the Federal Government budget in 2018 and more than 10 times the Foreign Direct Investment  (FDI) flows in the same period, the firm said in a report “Strength from Abroad: The Economic Power of Nigeria’s diaspora,” cited by Per Second News.

Migrant remittances to Nigeria could grow to $25.5billion, $29.8billion and US$34.8billion in 2019, 2021 and 2023 respectively, the firm said, seeing total remittance flows to Nigeria to grow by almost double in size from $18.37 billion in 2009 to $34.89 billion in 15 years, that is 2023.

Although growth in remittances is subject to global economic factors, PwC expects Nigeria develops a diaspora strategy both at the national and state level to grow inflows into the country.

“We are 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 per cent of remittances are used for consumption purposes, while 30 per cent of  remittance funds go to investment-related uses,” Andrew S. Nevin, Partner & Chief Economist at PWC, said.

Nigeria accounts for over a third of migrant remittance flows to Sub-Saharan Africa, according to PwC estimates, accounting for $23 million in Nigerian revenue in 2018, representing 5.8 per cent of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).