Zim in top five African remittance destinations – Word Remit

Harare, (New Ziana) – Global payments firm, World Remit has listed Zimbabwe as one of the top five African destinations that received most remittances in 2019.

Overall remittances channelled to Africa through the firm grew 49 percent during the period compared to the previous year.

“The top five countries receiving remittances from the diaspora in 2019 included Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, Zimbabwe, with Nigeria receiving the remittances,” World Remit said in its report.

Last figures released by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe show that the country received US$504.7 million in remittances as at June 2019, which was down, 13.2 percent from the same period in 2018.

Full remittance figures for the whole of 2019 are yet to be made public but in 2018 figure was estimated at US$1.1 billion.

World Remit, which is one f the many platforms through which Zimbabwe’s diaspora sends money back home, said the top source countries for remittances where the United States, Australia, Canada, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

“The diaspora plays a key role in Africa’s development story, today the value of remittances is three times larger than official development assistance, and forecasted to become higher that foreign direct investment for a handful of African countries in 2019,” World Remit said in a release.

The growth in use of digital and mobile penetration across the continent, World Remit said, had also catapulted remittances.

“World Remit has and continues to partner with both mobile money and bricks and mortar agents to increase accessibility to all our customers regardless of whether they are in a city or remote village on the continent,” the firm said.

In Zimbabwe, the firm, has partnered with mobile money firm, Ecocash, various banks, microfinance institutions and retailers through which people collect their monies.
New Ziana