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AFRICA / REMITTANCES
STORY: AFRICA / REMITTENCES
TRT: 2.27
SOURCE: IFAD
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: MAY 2007 - 22, 23 OCTOBER 2009
FILE – IFAD - SEPTEMBER 2008, TANZANIA
1. Close up, cash and hands
2. Wide shot, cash being passed
FILE – IFAD – JULY 2009, ROME, ITALY
3. Wide shot, IFAD exterior
4. Close up, IFAD symbol
FILE – IFAD - JUNE 2008, ERITREA
5. Wide shot, village
6. Wide shot, family outside hut
7. Close up, hands cutting
8. Wide shot, market
9. Close up, passing fruit
OCTOBER 2009, ROME, ITALY
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Pedro De Vasconcelos, Remittances Coordinator, IFAD:
“Central banks don’t have the information, governments therefore don’t have it. Governments don’t even know the impact, the real impact of remittances in their own country. So this is a little grain of salt for the international community and governments of those that can do something really stating the reality.”
FILE – IFAD – MAY 2007, WASHINGTON DC
11 Wide shot, exterior bank
12. Med shot, interior lineup at bank
13. Close up, money being passed over counter
FILE – IFAD – MARCH 2009, HAITI
14. Close up, money passing hands
OCTOBER 2009, ROME, ITALY
15. SOUNDBITE (English) Kanayo F. Nwanze, President, IFAD:
“If you were able to reduce the cost of money transfer to Africa as low as it is in the US, by 50 percent, you have an additional $2 billion available, you can imagine what that can do in terms of investment in rural development in Africa. So this is where governments have a responsibility to put in place the necessary instruments, the necessary policies, the necessary frameworks.”
FILE – IFAD – PLACE UNKNOWN, MARCH 2009
16. Close up, sign MoneyGram
FILE – IFAD – JUNE 2006, BURKINA FASO
17. Wide shot, streets
18. Close up, bank sign
19. Close up, bank sign
20. Wide shot, woman in market
OCTOBER 2009, ROME, ITALY
21. SOUNDBITE (English) Pedro De Vasconcelos, Remittances Coordinator, IFAD:
“If you take all the micro finance institutions in Africa and you allow them to enter the market to provide remittances you would double the payout locations.”
FILE – IFAD – JUNE 2006, BURKINA FASO
22. Close up, man calculating sums,
23. Med shot, man welding cart
FILE – IFAD - SEPTEMBER 2008, TANZANIA
24. Wide shot, man walking
25. Med shot, interior of shop
26. Close up, man on phone
27. Med shot, man paying customer
Thirty million African migrants send more than 40 billion dollars home to their families each year, according to a new study from the UN’s International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).
And while the money provides a lifeline for many during the global recession, its poverty reducing potential is diminished by strict laws, high transfer fees and a lack of information about remittance flows, say the report’s authors.
The report, “Sending Money Home to Africa,” will be presented at the Global Forum on Remittances 2009, in Tunis, 22-23 October, organized by IFAD and the African Development Bank (AfDB).
Globally remittances, which top US $300 billion per year, outstrip foreign direct investment and development assistance combined. While transfer costs have declined significantly in Latin America and in Asia, sending money home to Africa is still expensive, says the report, costing as high as 25 per cent of the sum in some regions.
Currently, two major money transfer companies – Western Union and Money Gram - jointly control nearly 65 per cent of all remittance networks. At the same time, most African countries restrict the kinds of institutions that can offer remittance services, penalizing microfinance institutions, which have a greater geographical reach than banks.
Allowing others into the market would not only increase competition, but also increase the number of transfer outlets, particularly in poor rural communities where more than a third of remittances are sent.
With more financial institutions handling remittances, more poor rural people will have access to financial services, such as savings accounts, loans and insurance. And if just a small portion of the money received is saved or invested in micro enterprises, it could become a motor for local development.
The IFAD report also highlights how the better use of new technologies such as cell phones, and existing infrastructures, particularly post offices or small retail outlets, could play a significant role in expanding the spread of remittance services.
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