\n
The government has been urged to prioritise strategies to attract higher remittance inflows to support the country\u2019s developmental agenda, shifting focus from an over-reliance on foreign direct investments (FDIs).<\/p>\n
Currently, the country\u2019s regulatory space presents hurdles to new entrance compared to neighbouring countries, such as Nigeria, which offer a more friendlier environment.<\/p>\n
In 2023, remittances brought in US$4.6billion, according to the World Bank\u2014significantly dwarfing the US$649 million generated from FDIs during the same period. This highlights the country\u2019s disproportionate focus on FDIs despite the far greater contributions of remittances.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat remittances do for Ghana is far higher than FDIs. And as a country, we should take remittances seriously and encourage it because I think it will continue to outshine FDIs,\u201d said Mawutor Abraham, director of Taptap Send Africa, a global money transfer company.<\/p>\n
He explained that while attracting FDIs involves significant stress and expenditure, remittances are a low-hanging fruit that the country can leverage to support its development.<\/p>\n
Mr. Abraham, who spoke at a media engagement in Accra, added: \u201cFor FDIs, we need to convince countries to come and invest, but with remittances, all we are doing is convincing our own people who are abroad to send in more money.\u201d.<\/p>\n
He stated that the remittance sector could play a much greater role in supporting the economy if the government prioritised creating a more favourable environment to attract more remittance firms into the country.<\/p>\n
On how to go about this, he advised the state to provide a supportive domestic regulatory environment with clear guidelines for start-ups, review the four-year requirements for remittance firms wanting to set up in the country, and promote closer engagement between players and regulators.<\/p>\n
Explaining further, he said the Bank of Ghana (BoG) and other regulators must engage remittance firms and other stakeholders on ways to encourage more remittances into the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe same way we hold fora to attract FDIs and investments, we should have similar fora for encouraging remittances. But we are not doing that; we are kind of leaving remittances to fester on their own.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to ensure that remittance companies are happy. If a company is able to pool US$1 billion into the economy, we must provide it with a red carpet,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n
Service resumption<\/p>\n
The media engagement was to provide updates on the return of Taptap Send in the Ghanaian market after a month suspension due to regulatory breaches.<\/p>\n
The resumption of service means that customers in the United Kingdom (UK), Europe, Canada, the United States, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) can once again send money seamlessly to their loved ones in Ghana.<\/p>\n
The temporary suspension was due to a directive from the Bank of Ghana (BoG), which required Taptap Send to pause partnerships with local banks and fintechs for one month concerning its newly-launched wallet product for European Union (EU)\/United Kingdom customers.<\/p>\n
Mr. Abraham stated that while no laws were breached, Taptap Send respected the regulatory process and now confirms that its operations and regulatory status remain intact.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are fully committed to complying with all relevant regulations, and we\u2019re excited to resume transfers to Ghana for the thousands of customers who have relied on us for their money transfers over the years,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Impact<\/p>\n
Mr. Abraham stated that Taptap Send suffered a significant loss, exceeding US$100 million in transactional value during the month of November, following the suspension of its operations in the country.<\/p>\n
He explained that the suspension had a devastating impact on the company\u2019s revenue in November, resulting in zero transactions for the entire period.<\/p>\n
\u201cTaptap Send processes about US$100m in money transfers monthly, and so for the month of November, we recorded zero money transfers due to the suspension, and that also affected our revenue for November. We also lost some customers who we are now trying to get back,\u201d Mr. Abraham concluded.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The government has been urged to prioritise strategies to attract higher remittance inflows to support the country\u2019s developmental agenda, shifting focus from an over-reliance on foreign direct investments (FDIs). Currently, the country\u2019s regulatory space presents hurdles to new entrance compared to neighbouring countries, such as Nigeria, which offer a more friendlier environment. In 2023, remittances […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":267233,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-267232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-top-news"],"yoast_head":"\n
Remittances potential untapped, as sector contributes over US$4.6bn yearly - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/12\/18\/remittances-potential-untapped-as-sector-contributes-over-us4-6bn-yearly\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Remittances potential untapped, as sector contributes over US$4.6bn yearly - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The government has been urged to prioritise strategies to attract higher remittance inflows to support the country\u2019s developmental agenda, shifting focus from an over-reliance on foreign direct investments (FDIs). 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