Remittance providers and stakeholders such as money transfer operators, financial services providers, financial technology providers, vendors, agent network operators, mobile financial services providers, regulators and stakeholders from the supply and demand side of the remittance industry will be meeting at the REMITAFRICA2015.
According to the organizers of the forum, MobileMoneyAfrica) Nigeria was selected to host the event being the top Africa remittance beneficiary in the last few years.
Financial expert say that the formal market for international and cross border money transfer to Africa is still young and faces typical emerging markets challenges when compared to more established markets.
According to them, a competitive market space is required to foster technology innovation, access and drive the expansion necessary to reduce cost and reach underserved areas.
According to a recent report by the World Bank, the growth of remittances to Sub-Saharan Africa is projected to slow to 0.9 per cent in 2015, amounting to $33 billion. Globally, it is expected to reach $586 billion in 2015, though at a slower growth rate of 0.4 per cent due to economic conditions and is expected to accelerate again to reach an estimated $636 billion in 2017.
Africa has made great strides in mobile technology adoption and penetration. However, despite the pervasive coverage of such mobile networks across Africa, technological innovation has yet to drive down costs in remittance markets.
The barriers to cost-reduction, challenges and opportunities in the African remittance market, improving efficiency at the last mile, the role of non-bank financial institutions and the emergence of digital remittances such as mobile money, online transfers and crypto-currencies in lowering remittance cost for Africans are some of the subject matter areas to be considered at the conference being held at the prestigious Lagos Oriental hotel, Nigeria.
