Money from migrants is lifeblood for Africa

Accra, Apr 24: Jumai will soon be moving with her two young children from her tiny, one-room house in a run-down suburb of Ghana's capital, Accra.

With money sent by her husband, Ibrahim, who works illegally in Amsterdam, she has built a walled compound with two houses -- plenty of room for her and her extended family if needs be.

''He first sent 25 million cedis (

Accra, Apr 24: Jumai will soon be moving with her two young children from her tiny, one-room house in a run-down suburb of Ghana's capital, Accra.

With money sent by her husband, Ibrahim, who works illegally in Amsterdam, she has built a walled compound with two houses -- plenty of room for her and her extended family if needs be.

''He first sent 25 million cedis ($2,730). That bought the land and paid for the foundation. When it runs out, he sends more,'' she said in Accra's Zongo neighbourhood, where homes are squeezed together along gravel streets.

Jumai did not want to give her last name for fear of repercussions for her husband.

Three years ago, Ibrahim, a trained electrician, paid fixers to get the documents he needed to travel to the Dutch capital, where he now works in a wood processing firm.

The money he sends back home also pays for his son, Hamza, 7, and daughter, Munaya, 9, to go to school, at 50 dollars each a term.

Across Africa, many families like Jumai's rely on relatives working overseas -- often illegally -- to pay for their housing, school fees and sometimes even their food and clothes.

The phenomenon is so widespread that it provides a welcome fillip for state coffers on the world's poorest continent.

Last year, Ghanaians received an estimated 1.5 billion dollars from friends and relatives, mostly in the United States and Europe, making remittances the nation's biggest foreign exchange earner, Bank of Ghana's director of research Dr Ernest Addison said.

''Almost every household in Ghana has a part of the household living abroad ... There are many new buildings springing up owned by Ghanaians resident overseas,'' he told Reuters, adding that the influx reflected greater confidence in the economy.

''Migrants abroad are willing to put their resources back into the country ... Remittances have a major effect on poverty reduction,'' he said.

ECONOMIC BONUS The hundreds of millions of dollars that flow back into Africa from nationals working abroad are a bonus both to the black market and formal economies in some of the world's poorest countries, economists and government officials say.

''Some of our teachers and doctors are sending money for the construction of houses and this is helping with national development,'' said Zambian Finance Minister Ng'andu Magande.

''Many Zambians are buying vehicles which they are sending home to be used as buses and this has improved our transport sector ...

The stability of the exchange rate has encouraged more people to send currency home,'' he said.

Senegal, from where thousands of young people risk their lives on hazardous sea crossings to Europe, estimates 3 million of its nationals abroad, most working illegally, send back 300 billion CFA (570 million dollars) a year through official channels.

Ugandans living abroad sent home about 500 million dollars last year in foreign currency -- more than the country's main exports of coffee, fish and flowers combined, officials say.

Unofficial figures show that Kenyans abroad sent home 464 million dollars in 2004 compared with foreign direct investment of a paltry 46 million dollars in the same year.

Kenyan businesswoman Margaret Mugo says her mother, a widow who lives in the coastal town of Mombasa, receives between 200-500 dollars every month from her other daughter who lives in the United States and works as an assistant in a law firm.

''My mother is completely dependent on the money she receives monthly from my sister through Western Union ... she has no other source of income,'' Mugo said.

Reuters

,730). That bought the land and paid for the foundation. When it runs out, he sends more,'' she said in Accra's Zongo neighbourhood, where homes are squeezed together along gravel streets.

Jumai did not want to give her last name for fear of repercussions for her husband.

Three years ago, Ibrahim, a trained electrician, paid fixers to get the documents he needed to travel to the Dutch capital, where he now works in a wood processing firm.

The money he sends back home also pays for his son, Hamza, 7, and daughter, Munaya, 9, to go to school, at 50 dollars each a term.

Across Africa, many families like Jumai's rely on relatives working overseas -- often illegally -- to pay for their housing, school fees and sometimes even their food and clothes.

The phenomenon is so widespread that it provides a welcome fillip for state coffers on the world's poorest continent.

Last year, Ghanaians received an estimated 1.5 billion dollars from friends and relatives, mostly in the United States and Europe, making remittances the nation's biggest foreign exchange earner, Bank of Ghana's director of research Dr Ernest Addison said.

''Almost every household in Ghana has a part of the household living abroad ... There are many new buildings springing up owned by Ghanaians resident overseas,'' he told Reuters, adding that the influx reflected greater confidence in the economy.

''Migrants abroad are willing to put their resources back into the country ... Remittances have a major effect on poverty reduction,'' he said.

ECONOMIC BONUS The hundreds of millions of dollars that flow back into Africa from nationals working abroad are a bonus both to the black market and formal economies in some of the world's poorest countries, economists and government officials say.

''Some of our teachers and doctors are sending money for the construction of houses and this is helping with national development,'' said Zambian Finance Minister Ng'andu Magande.

''Many Zambians are buying vehicles which they are sending home to be used as buses and this has improved our transport sector ...

The stability of the exchange rate has encouraged more people to send currency home,'' he said.

Senegal, from where thousands of young people risk their lives on hazardous sea crossings to Europe, estimates 3 million of its nationals abroad, most working illegally, send back 300 billion CFA (570 million dollars) a year through official channels.

Ugandans living abroad sent home about 500 million dollars last year in foreign currency -- more than the country's main exports of coffee, fish and flowers combined, officials say.

Unofficial figures show that Kenyans abroad sent home 464 million dollars in 2004 compared with foreign direct investment of a paltry 46 million dollars in the same year.

Kenyan businesswoman Margaret Mugo says her mother, a widow who lives in the coastal town of Mombasa, receives between 200-500 dollars every month from her other daughter who lives in the United States and works as an assistant in a law firm.

''My mother is completely dependent on the money she receives monthly from my sister through Western Union ... she has no other source of income,'' Mugo said.

Reuters