Diaspora remittances surge by an unprecedented amount during the course of February

DIASPORA remittances surged by 433% to $1.3bn during the course of in February this year from $300m sent back home in January according to figures just published by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Historically, Nigeria has always been among the top five countries in the world when it comes to remittances behind India, Mexico, Egypt and the Philippines. However, all these economies suffered drops as a result of the recent Coronavirus pandemic and in 2020, the Nigerian decline of 27% was 18.2 percentage points below the 8.8% decline projected by the World Bank for both Nigeria and the Sub-Saharan African.

Since the end of pandemic, however, remittances have picked up again  and last month, the rose by an unprecedented amount. Hakama Sidi Ali, the CBN's acting director of corporate communications, noted that foreign investors’ interest in Nigeria surged during the period referenced.

She added: “The Bank’s data indicates that overseas remittances rose to $1.3bn in February 2024, more than four times the $300m received in January.”  Meanwhile, CBN governor, Olayemi Cardoso, has outlined plans to tame inflation, including raising interest rates to 22.75%.