News & Analysis: Remittances
“During the second and third quarters of 2020, remittances grew by 89.3 percent year-on-year, compared to 18.5 percent for the same period in 2019. Notably, the start of this record-breaking growth coincided with the first state of emergency declaration on March 27 and the subsequent border closures. “
“The economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic will send personal incomes in Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, back four decades. If Africa’s biggest oil producer is to avoid a prolonged recession, it will have to enact a series of potentially politically unpopular reforms.”
“Disruptions induced by the COVID-19 pandemic have eroded progress in poverty reduction in Kenya, forcing an estimated two million more into poverty. Households have been hit hard due to reduced job opportunities and lower earnings, unemployment have almost doubled, remittances have reduced and only a few households have benefited from direct cash assistance.”
“Early World Bank estimates in April had predicted a 23.1% drop in remittances to sub-Saharan African countries this year in the wake of economic shocks in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic. But the bank’s updated estimates portray a more positive outlook.”
“As the COVID-19 pandemic and economic crisis continues to spread, the amount of money migrant workers send home is projected to decline 14 percent by 2021 compared to the pre COVID-19 levels in 2019”
“The pandemic gave remittance companies an advantage over their main competition in Africa: the sprawling informal networks of traders, bus drivers and travellers used by many migrants to send money home.”
“Facilitating remittance flows is one of the best ways to directly support people in need, provide an economic boost to countries, and thereby quicken an international recovery.”
“We’ve heard the consistent refrain that the education sector needs to become more resilient to this and future crises, but we’ve heard much less about what that means in practice. Inevitably, it will require identifying tradeoffs and strategizing about how to deal with them in ways that support education outcomes, especially for students and families most likely to be affected.”
“While food systems were exempt from most ‘lockdown’ policies, they were not immune to the effects of COVID-19. Protecting food supplies should be a priority alongside government efforts to address the health consequences of the pandemic.”
“The Economic Commission for Africa projects that remittance inflows to Africa could decline by 21 percent in 2020, implying $18 billion less will go to the people who rely on that money.”
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