The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development announced that remittance to developing countries has shown growth according to the The Least Developed Countries Report 2012: Harnessing Remittances and Diaspora Knowledge to Build Productive Capacities” report. The report was released Addis Ababa, Ethiopia last Monday.
The report stated that the amount of remittance to developing countries has increased from 3.5 billion to 27 billion in the last decade, 1990-211. This is a very significant growth according to Tesfachew Tafere, Director of the Africa and Least Developed Countries Division with UNCTAD.
The 48 countries that were included in the report are the world’s least developed countries. The report counseled these countries to draft laws to allow for the proper utilization of the remittance.
The report also asked governments to lower the transfer costs levied for ending remittance home, which is most often around 12 percent of the total amount to be transferred. This is nearly threefold of the global average.On the report Ethiopia is mentioned as having an exemplary Diaspora policy in relation to remittance. Ethiopian Diasporas send 1.5 billion US Dollar remittance per year according to World Bank, UNCTAD also estimated the amount to be over a billion US dollar.
Source: Fortune
