There is no place like home, a saying that rings true to every traveler or foreign sojourner. People in the diaspora, live and work in foreign countries and predominantly include those who search for better opportunities and livelihood. “A diaspora is a scattered population whose origin lies in a separate geographical locale”. ‘Diasporas’
is now generally used to describe those who identify with a ‘homeland’ but live outside of it.
The Diasporas can be an agent of national development recognizing the role they play in knowledge transfer and investment inflow. Since Nigeria transitioned to democratic rule in 1999, a new vista was opened in how the government relates with the diaspora. The Nigerian Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs revealed that there are more than 20 million Nigerians in the diaspora, paying an estimated $25 billion in annual remittances. It also stated that Nigeria was the world’s fifth largest receiver of diaspora remittances as at 2020.
One of the most fundamental desires of Nigerians and a lot of Africans when leaving their home country is to be able to remit money home to family and loved ones from wherever they are in the world. Indeed, supporting families back home is the ultimate expression of love, commitment and duty of Nigerians, and other Africans in the Diaspora.
It is interesting to note that no other country in Sub Saharan Africa receives more remittances than Nigeria. Experts at Price Waterhouse Coopers (PwC) estimate that remittances from “abroad” will hit $35billion by 2023.
What is Diaspora Banking Service in FirstBank?
Diaspora banking is designed for Nigerians who do not reside in Nigeria in order to be able to access to a wide range of FirstBank products and services. These services could be carried out in the form of payment services like credit transfers, direct debits, deposits a nd lending services, investment, to mention a few.
At the start of the decade, Western Union, and a few Nigerian owned companies/agents and a plethora of informal channels held sway in diaspora remittances from abroad.
In 2016, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) stepped in to bring order to the remittance
market and for a while, only Western Union, MoneyGram, and Ria Money Transfers
were operating as CBN approved International Money Transfer Operators ( MTOs before others were approved. As of the last count, more than 60 MTOs have been authorized by CBN.
The tales have not all been sweet as many people in the diaspora have reportedly lost huge amounts to their trusted’ rela tives and friends who turned out otherwise. In remedying this situation and pursuing innovation in the provision of banking services FirstDiaspora (from FirstBank) is now available to customers and potential customers living or working in diaspora. They are now able to bank as if they never left Nigeria.
FirstDiaspora lets you enjoy safe, versatile and convenient banking from your base abroad. Banking transactions are now seamless and accessible and consequently, Diaspora customers now have a sense of belonging and enjoy confidence in banking back at home.
Essentially, the extent to which the diaspora community contributes to the development of a country, and make sound investments is largely determined by all round trust and with over 127 years of banking in Nigeria, FirstBank can be trusted with all your banking needs whilst living as part of the ever growing diaspora community across community across the world the world.
Visit us from anywhere in the world, at our official FirstBank website www.firstbanknigewww.firstbanknigeria.comria.com and let’s and let’s get started get started.
REFERENCES
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265569685_THE_NIGERIAN_DIASPORA_AND_NATIONAL_DEVELOPMENT_CONTRIBUTIONS_CHALLENGES_AND_LESSONS_FROM_OTHER_COUNTRIES, https://www.polity.org.za/article/how manyNigerians abroad and how much cash do theysend-home 2021 02 10, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission,https://imtconferences.com/nigerian diasporaremittances/, https://www.pwc.com/ng/en /pdf/theeconomic power of nigerias diaspora.pdf
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