According to a World Bank estimate, the Nigerian diaspora sent $168.33 billion to Nigeria over the course of the previous eight years.
The remittance was sent while the country’s foreign investment inflow remained uncertain throughout those years due to a lack of foreign money, which later caused the naira to collapse abruptly.
Remittances from Nigeria’s diaspora have made a significant contribution to reducing the negative effects of foreign exchange shortages and maintaining the nation’s foreign exchange reserve, according to data from the World Bank and the Budget Office of the Federation.
Nigeria still received the highest portion even as remittances to Sub-Saharan Africa increased by 5.2% to $53 billion in 2022, according to the World Bank.
As per data from the International Bank, Nigerians living abroad sent home a total of $168.33 billion between 2015 and 2022.
Based on a breakdown of the data, remittances from the diaspora were $21.2 billion in 2015, $19.7 billion in 2016, and $22 billion in 2017.
Also, it reported that the amount was $24.31 billion in 2018. It quickly decreased to $23.81 billion in 2019 and was reduced to $17.21 billion in 2020 as a result of the pandemic. By 2021, it had increased significantly to $19.2 billion, and by 2022, the World Bank predicted that the country would have received $20.9 billion in foreign investment.
Nigeria’s remittance inflows had previously only ever gone below $20 billion, reaching $19.7 billion in 2016. The World Bank predicted that in 2022, remittances from the diaspora will rank among the top non-oil sources of foreign money for the nation.
It was observed that numerous new policies from the Central Bank of Nigeria have contributed to the consistent rise in inflows from the Diaspora since 2021.
Based on the most recent data from the CBN, as of April 19, 2023, Nigeria had $34.43 billion in foreign exchange reserves, a rise of 18.4% from the $29.07 billion it had in 2015.
Although remittances from the diaspora have been very beneficial, the Nigerian diaspora community recently expressed concern that the present economic crisis may limit the amount of money it can send home.