Nigeria Emerges as The Highest Recipient of Diaspora Remittances in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2023

According to a World Bank report, Africa’s most populous nation Nigeria, emerged as the highest recipient for diaspora remittance in 2023, accounting for 35% of Sub-Saharan Africa’s total inflows. 

The report revealed that Nigeria captured approximately $19.5 billion inflow last year,  the highest in the region.

Part of the report reads,

“The regional growth In remittances in 2023 was largely driven by strong remittance growth in Uganda (15% to $1.4 billion), Rwanda (9.3% to $0.5 billion), Kenya (2.6% to $4.2 billion), and Tanzania (4% to $0.7 billion). Remittances to Nigeria, accounting for around 35% of total remittance inflows to the region, decreased by 2.9% to $19.5 billion”.

However, despite Nigeria emerging as the country with the highest diaspora remittance inflow for 2023, it witnessed a 2.9% decline when compared to the previous year. While this percentage is the highest in the region, it pales in comparison to countries with large diaspora populations, such as India, which received approximately $119 billion in the same period.

Notably, Ghana and Kenya also recorded significant remittance inflow, accounting for $4.6 billion and $4.2 billion, respectively.

At the lower end of the top ten countries with the highest remittance inflows are Sudan and South Africa, each receiving a total of $1 billion.

The report also reveals that diaspora remittances constitute one-fifth of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in countries like Gambia, Lesotho, Comoros, Liberia, and Cabo Verde. These nations heavily rely on these inflows for their economic development

It is worth noting that most of these remittances came mainly from countries such as the United States and Canada as well as from the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and Italy.