When young Africans leave home to chase better lives in developed countries, they don’t cut home ties. Instead, these migrants retain relationships some of which are with people who regularly send them money from home. Think students without scholarships who need school fees and upkeep money from parents, or those living abroad but working remotely for companies in Africa. Given their global scale, one expects money transfer companies like Western Union, WorldRemit, Wise, and PayPal to attend to these remittance needs since inter-bank transfers between Africa and many countries are next to impossible. But they do not. They are either too risk averse to deal with Africans, maybe because of viral accounts of fraud, or impelled by regulators. For example, Nigeria’s central bank says Western Union cannot be used to send money out of the country and barred Wise from operating in either direction.
SOURCE: QUARTZ AFRICA