Last updated on August 8th, 2023 at 02:10 pm
This fall, the city of Lagos, Nigeria will welcome the largest gathering of money transfer providers, speakers, sponsors and industry partners on the African continent. The Lagos Oriental Hotel will host the seventh Remittance Africa conference October 23-24, under the banner headline ‘Unlocking Opportunities in Money Transfer and Payment Systems in Africa.’ The conference promises to provide opportunities for engagement among prominent thought leaders in the money transfer industry, from across Africa and worldwide.
Remittance Africa background and details
The aim of the October conference, in accordance with this year’s theme of unlocking opportunity, will be to promote innovations within existing money transfer ecosystems—acknowledging the areas of opportunity in the current African remittance marketplace—and to foster competition and inclusive growth with the help of rapidly changing technology. West Ekhator, the conference event director, explained, “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, so we are at the forefront of delivering highly engaging event platforms for supply-side decision makers in the remittance ecosystem to network and explore partners in the evolving remittance and payment ecosystem in Africa.”
Remittance Africa’s registration for sponsors and speakers is now live via the event website, where you can also find more information about the event. However, here are the main details:
Location: Lagos Oriental Hotel, No 3 Lekki Road, Victoria Island, Lagos – Nigeria
Dates: October 23-24, 2018
Additional Resources:
Register for the Conference
Apply to be a Speaker
Visa Information
Frequently Asked Questions
An overview of the African remittance market
Nigeria is Africa’s largest remittance market. With $22 billion received from individuals abroad in 2017, Lagos is an ideal location for the conference. Sub-Saharan African countries together represent one of the world’s largest remittance markets, with $40 billion in transfers to the continent expected in 2018 from people working abroad. In fact, the true impact of remittances on the economy is likely much higher, if money sent through informal channels is also taken into account. Remittances make up 2.5 percent of the region’s GDP on average.
Available data indicates that the top two source countries for remittances to sub-Saharan Africa are the European Union (41 percent of remittances) and the United States (28 percent). The remaining sources are other African countries (13 percent), Gulf Cooperation Council countries (9 percent), and other high-income countries (8 percent). Northern African countries are even more dependent on the European Union for money sent home. A recently released World Bank report indicates that the cost of sending money home to African countries remains much higher than to other regions of the world, highlighting one of the areas of opportunity for the 2018 conference and a promised area of focus.
Remit to Africa with Remitly
2018 also marks the year we expand our services to Africa in Ethiopia, Kenya, South Africa, and Nigeria. Follow the links below to learn more:
Send money to Ethiopia
Send money to Kenya
Send money to Nigeria
Send money to South Africa