Africa acquired over $95 billion in remittances in 2024, with Nigeria, Egypt, and Morocco main as high recipients, in line with the State of Africa’s Infrastructure Report 2025 by the Africa Finance Company (AFC).
The influx practically matched whole international direct funding (FDI) into the continent that 12 months, underscoring the rising significance of diaspora contributions to African economies.
The report highlighted that, other than 2024, remittances have persistently outpaced FDI, portfolio flows, and official improvement help lately—making them one in all Africa’s most secure and reliable sources of exterior finance.
Nigeria continued to rank as a key remittance hub, pushed by its giant and engaged diaspora. The AFC described the surge in remittances as a turning level, providing a extra structured and clear hyperlink between African economies and offshore wealth, marking a shift from a long time of capital flight.
“In 2024, Africa acquired over $95 billion in remittances from its international diaspora—an quantity roughly equal to whole FDI inflows to the continent that 12 months. The most important recipients have been Egypt, Nigeria, and Morocco, adopted by a rising variety of mid-sized economies with substantial emigrant populations.
“Remittances have confirmed to be a secure and resilient supply of exterior finance, usually outperforming portfolio flows and official improvement help when it comes to consistency,” the report learn partially.
In accordance with the report, between 1970 and 2004, Africa misplaced over $420 billion to capital flight, a lot of it by casual and opaque channels. These losses, compounded by labour migration, weakened home funding capability and disconnected African monetary programs from wealth held overseas. The figures, cited from estimates by economists Léonce Ndikumana and James Ok. Boyce, lined 40 Sub-Saharan African nations.
Extra insights
The AFC report sees at the moment’s remittance growth as a possibility to embed diaspora engagement extra intentionally into nationwide improvement methods. Whereas a big share of remittances goes towards family consumption, the presence of trusted monetary channels is enabling extra structured diaspora investments.
- One such software is the diaspora bond. Whereas nations like Ethiopia, Kenya, and Egypt have struggled with uptake attributable to weak regulatory frameworks, Nigeria’s $300 million diaspora bond issued in 2017 was absolutely subscribed—due to clear phrases, credible oversight, and aggressive yields. The bond represented 1.4% of the nation’s remittance receipts that 12 months.
The AFC additionally referenced earlier continental initiatives, together with the African Diaspora Funding Fund and a proposed African Institute for Remittances. Although progress on these fronts has been gradual, the report argues that the groundwork for formal diaspora engagement is in place.
What you must know
Nairametrics earlier reported that Nigeria recorded $282.61 million in direct diaspora remittances in Q1 2024, a 6.28% drop from the $301.57 million recorded in Q1 2023. The information, sourced from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), covers remittances processed by worldwide cash switch operators (IMTOs).
- Month-to-month traits confirmed blended efficiency:
- January 2024 noticed a 75% year-on-year surge to $138.56 million, up from $79.19 million in January 2023.
- February 2024 fell sharply to $39.15 million, down over 53% from $83.76 million in February 2023.
- March 2024 additionally declined to $104.91 million, a 24% drop from $138.63 million in March 2023.
In the meantime, in March 2025, NiDCOM Chairman/CEO Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa disclosed that Nigerians overseas had remitted over $90 billion over the previous 5 years to help nationwide improvement.
Nigeria additionally remained the main recipient of diaspora remittances in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2023, accounting for round 35% of the area’s whole inflows. In accordance with a World Bank report, the nation acquired roughly $19.5 billion in 2023, which was the very best within the area.
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