Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced a shift from Direct Foreign Investments in Nigeria’s economy to what he called: “remittance flows and Diaspora investments.
“Consistent with the global trend, Nigeria aspires to ensure that remittance flows and Diaspora investments become a significant source of external financing.”
The CBN Boss, who spoke today, March 6, at the Fidelity Bank’s Inaugural Diaspora Webinar on the Implications and Impact of the New FX Policy on Diaspora Investments, said that over the years, foreign direct investments and portfolio flows to Nigeria have exhibited volatilities, the reversals of which exert enormous pressures on Domestic Market conditions, hence the need to boost remittance flow.
“Today, the World Bank data shows that Nigeria, with a total flow of US$21billion, was the seventh largest recipient of remittances in 2019.
“This is behind India, China, and even Egypt. Though official remittance flows declined in 2020 due largely to the undermining impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, it maintained its dominance over FDI inflows.
“Accordingly, the CBN strives to constantly improve our remittance infrastructure, ease the process of international money transfer and simplify the experience for senders and recipients. In this regard, we note that the efficiency of remittance services, especially as provided by the international money transfer organizations(IMTOs) are critical to our aim of boosting inflows.
“We would constantly seek to fine-tune our policies to mitigate factors that affect the quality-of-service customers face when using IMTOs.”