The World Bank reports that Nigerians in Diaspora has transferred $168.33 billion to the nation over the last eight years.
This is due to the country’s fluctuating foreign investment inflow during the period under review, which led to a shortage of foreign currency and the subsequent free fall of the naira.
Data from the World Bank and the Budget Office of the Federation show that Nigeria’s diaspora remittances have been crucial in reducing the effects of currency shortage and maintaining the nation’s foreign exchange reserve.
Nigeria received the largest portion of the $53 billion in remittances to sub-Saharan Africa in 2022, according to the World Bank.
A total of $168.33 billion was sent home by Nigerians in the Diaspora between 2015 and 2022, according to data from the global bank.
According to a breakdown of the data, the Diaspora remittance was $21.2 billion in 2015, $19.7 billion in 2016, and $22 billion in 2017.
In 2018, it was $24.31 billion. After a brief decline to $23.81 billion in 2019, the pandemic caused a further decline to 17.21 billion in 2020. In 2021, it recovered to $19.2 billion, and by 2022, the World Bank predicted that the country had received $20.9 billion in foreign investment.
Nigeria’s remittance inflows had only ever dropped below $20 billion once before 2020, to $19.7 billion in 2016. The World Bank predicts that in 2022, remittances from the diaspora will rank among the top non-oil sources of foreign exchange for the nation.
According to the report, the Central Bank of Nigeria’s new policies are to blame for the sustained rise in inflows from the diaspora since 2021.
Nigeria’s foreign exchange reserves were $34.43 billion as of April 19, 2023, up 18.4% from the $29.07 billion they were at the same time in 2015.
Although remittances from Nigerians living abroad have provided a lifeline for many of them, the Nigerian diaspora community recently expressed concern that the current economic crisis may limit the amount of money it can send home.
