Remittance per capita highlights the effect of population size on how far incoming funds stretch. What would it look like if the total money sent home every year by citizens working abroad were divided equally among everyone in the country?

Nigeria, Africa’s second-largest remittance recipient in 2023, received $20-billion. But as the most-populous African nation, this amounts to just $91 a person – about R4 a day or R1,600 for the year.

For the 126-million people in Ethiopia, the remittance of $591-million only comes to $4 per citizen for the year. But in at least 13 countries including Ghana, Senegal, Lesotho, Egypt and The Gambia, remittances come to more than $100 a person, which gives us insight into the impact of sending money home.

In this thought experiment, Moroccans are the real winners. In a country with a population of 38-million, the $12-billion sent home last year equates to $320 a citizen.

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