African countries are expected to see a significant decline in remittances by 5.4 per cent from $44 billion in 2020 to $41 billion in 2021. This is according to the findings from the latest Continental Migration Report. The trend was partly attributed to the fact that most African citizens working abroad have lost their jobs while some are grappling with reduced incomes. Also part of the cause is slow recovery for most countries where the migrants reside, the report highlighted. The trajectory, experts say, signals hardships to African households that depend on their friends and relatives working abroad. The report titled ‘African regional review of implementation of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration” shows that the costs associated with sending remittances to Africa are still some of the highest in the world. For instance, the report notes that a migrant sending $200 to their family in Africa incurs an estimated charge of $18 of the value of transaction. This indicates that the continent is still far from achieving the three percent target, previously set out in Sustainable Development Goal 10. The development was set with an aim to reduce to less than three percent the transaction costs of migrant remittances and eliminate corridors with costs higher than 5 percent. The development is bleaker for countries with largest diaspora populations. Latest data indicate that remittances constitute about 23 percent of the GDP in Sub-Saharan Africa.
