Nigerians in Diaspora have been described as the chief enablers financing the Nigerian economy. The remittance inflows into the country showed that the nation depends largely on them to survive.
This disclosure was made by the Leader and Chief Economist of PwC, Dr Andrew Nevin. While speaking during his presentation at the Africa Institute for Leadership and Public Administration (AILPA) seminar, Nevin said Nigeria was the largest recipient of remittance flows to Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) in 2018.
With migrant remittance to the country rising by 14%, after a brief decline in 2016, from $22 billion in 2017 to over $25 billion in 2018, Nevin explained that the value of migrant remittances in 2018 represented 6.1% of Nigeria’s GDP, 11 times the FDI inflows, and 7.4 times larger than the foreign aid received in 2017.
Nevin further explained that the remittance inflow is not slowing down any sooner, as it is projected to increase to over $29 billion by 2023 undisturbed by the rising migrant population of Nigerians and the declining cost of sending money home. Occasioned by the activities of fintechs.