- A new United Nations report calls for the lifting of restrictions and costly fees imposed on the $40 billion that migrant workers send home to Africa each year, the world body’s agency tasked with eradicating rural poverty said today.
“Supporting this people-to-people money flow to rural areas of Africa is especially vital now because of the recession,” said International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) Assistant President, Kevin Cleaver.
“The power of remittances can be catalysed by easing restrictions and making it less costly for African families to collect this money,” added Mr Cleaver ahead of the two-day Global Forum on Remittances 2009 in Tunis, Tunisia, organised by IFAD and the African Development Bank (AfDB).
Global remittances top $300 billion per year, outstripping foreign direct investment (FDI) and development assistance combined, but high fees and logistical difficulties are hampering the power of remittances to lift people out of poverty, according to IFAD’s report, entitled Sending Money Home to Africa.
The report, which will be presented at the 22-23 October Tunis gathering, noted that although transfer costs have declined significantly in Latin America and in Asia, sending money home to Africa is still expensive, with fees within the continent reaching 25 percent of the sum.
In addition, some 30 to 40 percent of all remittances to Africa head to rural areas where many recipients have to travel great distances to collect their cash as the number of collection points across the entire continent is the same as for Mexico, which has a tenth of the population.
The report finds that simply by expanding the kinds of institutions able to conduct remittance services to include microfinance institutions and post offices, the number of payment points would more than double.
World leaders attending the G8 group of industrialised countries summit in July also recognised the development impact of remittance flows and set a goal of reducing the cost of remittances by 50 percent over the next five years, by promoting a competitive environment and removing barriers.
afrol News - It is called "financial inclusion", and it is a key government policy in Rwanda. The goal is that, by 2020, 90 percent of the population is to have and actively use bank accounts. And in only four years, financial inclusion has doubled in Rwanda.
afrol News - The UN's humanitarian agencies now warn about a devastating famine in Sudan and especially in South Sudan, where the situation is said to be "imploding". Relief officials are appealing to donors to urgently fund life-saving activities in the two countries.
afrol News - Fear is spreading all over West Africa after the health ministry in Guinea confirmed the first Ebola outbreak in this part of Africa. According to official numbers, at least 86 are infected and 59 are dead as a result of this very contagious disease.
afrol News - It is already a crime being homosexual in Ethiopia, but parliament is now making sure the anti-gay laws will be applied in practical life. No pardoning of gays will be allowed in future, but activist fear this only is a signal of further repression being prepared.
afrol News / Africa Renewal - Ethiopia's ambitious plan to build a US$ 4.2 billion dam in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, 40 km from its border with Sudan, is expected to provide 6,000 megawatts of electricity, enough for its population plus some excess it can sell to neighbouring countries.
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