Mobilising diaspora investments through financial inclusion

Detailed summary

PayInc’s Meera Sunker on how remittances and mobile money operators can drive financial inclusion and growth.

The centuries-old international monetary system has evolved through crises and wars, moving from coins of gold and silver to a world where currencies float freely against each other.

Financial integration has made capital available to entrepreneurs, corporations, governments and citizens alike.

Read: New blocs, new capital: Why Africa could gain in a fractured world

Today’s common set of rules, principles and norms both explicit and implicit that facilitate international flows of capital for investment, trade financing and economic development across borders, emerged from specific historical pressures – and could be altered yet again as the global economy shifts.

Several financial instruments have been proposed to achieve this, with one gaining traction, namely remittances.

Advocates of remittances – money sent by individuals working in a foreign country back to their family members in their home country – as a development finance tool, argue that they have an unrealised potential role in stimulating growth and development.

According to the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) report on the matter, global remittance inflows for low to middle income countries (LMICs) nearly doubled in the last 10 years.

Most remittances to LMICs were initiated digitally in 2025 but this did not always translate to the elimination of cash queues.

Africa received $124.2 billion in 2025. Remittances are a crucial source of financial inflows for the continent as they now outpace ODA (official development assistance) and foreign direct investment.

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