Remittances

The main goal of the African Guarantee Fund (AGF) is to increase access to finance for small and medium enterprises – which is especially relevant for returning migrants. The AGF’s key mandate is to assist financial institutions to increase their financing to African Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) through the provision of partial financial guarantees and capacity development assistance. AGF’s products and services provide financial institutions with the means which they can leverage in bringing their African SME financing interventions to the required scale.

The African Institute for Remittances (AIR) is a specialized technical office of the African Union Commission (AUC) established to assist the AU Member States to:

(a) improve their statistical measurement, compiling and reporting capabilities on remittances data;

(b) Promote appropriate changes to their legal and regulatory frameworks for remittances, payment and settlement systems as well as use of innovative technology so as to promote greater competition and efficiency, resulting in reductions of transfer costs; and

This website offers both comparison of remittance costs on 26 corridors from France, and editorial space for diaspora to communicate on their activities and exchange ideas on the blog.

It has contributed to fostering competition between remittance operators through increased transparency and information. It is also widely used by diaspora members as a platform to share information. 

Remittances from migrants are a major source of financing for the economies of developing countries and of the recipient populations. They are of great benefit to large segments of the population which, without these resources, would live in conditions of abject poverty. Consequently, remittance flows tend to remain stable even when the migrants’ countries of residence are beset by economic and financial crisis. They seem to be less volatile than official development assistance and foreign direct investment.

This bilateral program aims to facilitate actions undertaken by Senegalese diaspora members living in France for the economic and social development of their country of origin. It has four main components:

The German money transfer site (www.geldtransfair.de), shows current rates charged by MTOs and financial institutions, as a transparent way of informing and helping diaspora select cost effective transfer modes.

This objective is to make diaspora investment and remittances more productive and effective and to connect western markets and emerging markets.

The Diaspora Business Centre is a one stop shop that combines business and social interests, paired with professional know-how by diaspora experts.

Their activities entail the following:

The Sending Money Home web site is a price comparison service for sending remittances from Norway.  

In order to assist the Government in financing development, Financial Bonds have been offered targetting the Diaspora. The Ministry of Finance has been working with the Bank of Ghana to reduce the cost of remittances while enhancing its use for investment (as opposed to mainly for consumption). Currently, there is a World Bank project being coordinated by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning looking at remittances in Ghana.