Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo has said that about 70 per cent of
\nremittances into Nigeria from Nigerians in the diaspora goes to family
\nsupport, while only 30 per cent went into investments.<\/p>\n
Osinbanjo made the remarks at a virtual event themed: \u201dThe New CBN CX
\nPolicy and Positive Impact to Diaspora Investments in Nigeria\u201d,
\norganized by Fidelity Bank Plc, on Saturday, in Lagos.<\/p>\n
Osinbajo, a special guest at the webinar, was represented by Ms Yewande
\nSadiko, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of\u00a0 the
\nNigerian Investment Promotion Council (NIPC).<\/p>\n
He said that diaspora remittances had continued to surpass oil revenue,
\ntranslating to sometimes as high as six per cent of Gross Domestic
\nProducts (GDP).<\/p>\n
\u201cFor several years, the remittances exceeded Nigeria\u2019s oil revenue,
\ntranslating, sometimes, as high as 6 per cent of GDP.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe office of the Vice President, in collaboration with several
\nstakeholders, including the NIPC, worked on a study in 2017 to help us
\nbetter understand the potential of the Nigerians in diaspora investment
\ngroup.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe found that many Nigerians, particularly first generation males, have
\na keen interest in the economy and in fact many investors, do portfolio
\ninvestments and are interested in venturing beyond the Lagos investment
\narea.<\/p>\n
\u201d We found that 70 per cent of the diaspora inflows that come into
\nNigeria, however, goes into family support and only 30 per cent of the
\ninflows go towards investments,\u201d Osinbajo said.<\/p>\n
Stating that Nigerians in diaspora were a formidable force with a
\n\u2018can-do\u2019 spirit, he said they should focus more on specific investments
\nopportunities, channeled through the right platforms.<\/p>\n
\u201cNigerians in diaspora should engage in more specific investments that
\npromotes investments opportunities led by the private sector.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat they ask for from government is improvements in the enabling
\nbusiness environment and this administration\u2019s efforts over the years
\nhas been to improve the business environment.<\/p>\n
\u201cAn initiative such as this webinar, driven by the private sector to
\nattract investments from the diaspora is one of the key things they
\nasked for.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, we are delighted with the new CBN policy that makes it easier for
\ndiaspora Nigerians, not just to transfer funds to Nigeria but, to have
\ngreater value over the funds that they transfer.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know when the data are released, we will see the impact that it has
\nhad on the diaspora remittances from Nigerians to Nigeria,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Chairman\/CEO, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission
\n(NIDCOM) said that the new CBN CX policy would greatly impact on the
\nremittances of Nigerians in diaspora to the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cConsidering the enormous potential we have as Nigerians in diaspora,
\nNIDCOM was set up, a one-stop agency for Nigerians in the diaspora.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn the issue of remittances, the CBN FX policy indicates that as a
\nNigerian in diaspora you send in your money and get it in the currencies
\nyou sent it in.<\/p>\n
\u201cI must say this is a policy that will positively impact diaspora
\nremittances into Nigeria.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are still some issues which we will continue to work out with the
\nCBN, but the policy will change a lot of things as regards diaspora
\nremittances,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
She added that records had shown that between 12 to 13 million Nigerians
\nlived in the diaspora, excluding African countries from which NIDCOM was
\nworking to get the accurate data of Nigerians.<\/p>\n
Mr Godwin Emefiele, Governor of the CBN said that the new FX policy was
\nas a result of CBN\u2019s plan to broaden the scope and scale of diaspora
\ninflows.<\/p>\n
Emefiele said that the policy would ensure proper channeling of diaspora
\nremittances, thereby eradicating informal channels which were
\nfraud-prone.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs we are aware, remittances from Nigerians living abroad has had
\nsignificant benefits on domestic income, social welfare and economic
\ngrowth in our country.<\/p>\n
\u201cGiven the importance of Nigerians in the diaspora, keeping significant
\nengagements with them is vital towards maximising the gains, to further
\nbenefit them and improve the economy.<\/p>\n
\u201cRemittance are less volatile when compared to other forms of
\ninvestments such as portfolio investments which could be prone to sudden
\nreversals and are influenced by foreign forces.<\/p>\n
\u201cFollowing the onset of COVID-19, emerging economies witnessed sudden
\nreversals of over $100 billion worth of financial flows as investors
\nretreated to seek safer havens assets, such as the United States
\ntreasury bill.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome analysts have expected a significant drop in remittances in
\nemerging and frontier markets, as a result of the slow down of global
\ngrowth during the first half of the year, which was not the case in
\ncountries such as Pakistan, Bangladesh, Mexico and India, where we saw a
\nsignificant boost in diaspora remittances,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Emefiele added: \u201cThe increased flow of remittances helped in mitigating
\nthe negative effects of the pandemic and the outflow in portfolio funds
\nin the respective economies.<\/p>\n
\u201dAt the CBN, we understand the ramification for foreign exchange rate
\nstability, reserved recreation, job creation. poverty reduction and
\neconomic growth.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a result, our policy aim is to broaden the scope and scale of
\ndiaspora inflows which ensures that those in diaspora leverage formal
\nchannels in remitting funds rather than the informal channels that are
\nmore prone to frauds and poor safeguards for consumers who utilize these
\nservices.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the key elements in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is
\nto increase the volume of global remittances as a percentage of GDP,
\nwhile reducing the cost of remittances.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a result of the pandemic, global remittance flows to developing
\ncountries is estimated to fall by 7.2 per cent to $508 billion in 2020
\nand a further 7.5 per cent to $470 billion in 2021.<\/p>\n
\u201cIrrespective of the global fall in remittances, however, they remain a
\nstable source of financing in developing countries,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n
The CBN governor added: \u201cAccording to the World Bank, flows to low and
\nmedium income countries reached a record high of $520 billion in 2019,
\nthis surpassed FDI flows of $537 billion and overseas remittance of
\nabout $166 billion.<\/p>\n
\u201cConsistent with the global trend, Nigerians aspire to ensure perimeter
\nflows as World bank\u2019s records show that Nigeria\u2019s $21 billion
\nremittances was the 7th largest remittances in 2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cNotwithstanding the impact of the pandemic in 2020, diaspora
\nremittances maintained dominance over FDI.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe efficiency of remittances, especially as provided by the
\ninternational money transfers are critical to our aim of boosting the
\neconomy. Thus, we will continue to fine tune our policies to mitigate
\nfactors that affect the quality of service faced by customers when using
\nIMTOs.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf remittance infrastructure improves and the right policies are put in
\nplace, remittances will improve significantly, even though marred by
\nirregularities.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dr Julius Kpaduwa, a California-based Gynecologist and member of the
\nNigerian Physicians in the Americas, commended the bank for making
\ntransactions across borders very easy and successful. (NAN)<\/p>\n
Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo has said that about 70 per cent of remittances into Nigeria from Nigerians in the diaspora goes to family support, while only 30 per cent…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":79031,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-79030","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n