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The Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM) has expressed willingness
to partner with the African Institute for Remittances (AIR) towards
improving remittances in Africa.
This was the highlight of the courtesy visit to NiDCOM, led by Amadou
Cisse, the Executive Director, African Institute for Remittances in
Abuja on Monday.
Cisse made it known that Nigeria, the largest recipient of remittances
in Sub-Saharan Africa, with a well structured Diaspora Engagement
Policy, is their major country of focus alongside Egypt.
“Dealing with Nigeria equals to addressing at least 75 per cent of the
issues Africa face with remittances. This will impact the whole
continent, ” He added.
According to him, the Institute has three main focus which are to
regulate remittances and ensure its compliance with international
regulations, to gather accurate data for tracking remittances and to
create polices to develop remittances.
Cisse added that NIDCOM being a key player in Diaspora Affairs not only
in Nigeria but Africa will be a key stakeholder in driving the aims and
objectives of the Institute.
Receiving the delegation on behalf of Chairman/CEO, Nigerians in
Diaspora Commission, Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, the Secretary to
Commission, Dr. Sule Yakubu Bassi, assured the delegation of the
Commission’s commitment to remittances development.
“The issue of remittance development has been on the front burner for
NiDCOM. Studies have shown that 70 per cent of Nigeria Diaspora
Remittances goes into consumption while only 30 per cent goes into
investment.”
“Our goal is to see more percentage going into investments so the
Diaspora can have more dividends to allocate to social consumption.” He
explained.
To achieve that, the Commission has continued to partner with relevant
stakeholders, consistently engaged the Diaspora and execute programmes
tailored towards improving remittances.
The African Institute for Remittances is a technical arm of the African
Union designed to exclusively deal with issues of Remittances.
