Official remittances to the Democratic Republic of the Congo,
Burundi and Rwanda remain comparatively low compared to other
African countries, according the latest report in IOM’s
Migration Research Series.



Standing in 2005 at US$ 97 million, US$ 16 million and US$ 4
million respectively, official remittances to these three countries
have a considerable impact at the individual and household level
but their effect on development remains difficult to quantify.



The report notes however that the volume of informal remittances
could be much higher and underlines the need for more research to
be carried out to find out how remittances, both formal and
informal, are used in the region.



According to the report, the development potential of remittances
in the Great Lakes region is inhibited by a lack of an adequate
institutional framework to support economic initiatives of migrant
entrepreneurs and diaspora organizations.



Furthermore, the report adds that in all three countries, high
transaction costs to remit money, expenses related to the opening
and keeping a bank account and fluctuating exchange rates remain
problematic.



Besides remittance-related issues, the report underlines the
negative impact of fundamental societal issues such as political
and economic instability, the underdevelopment of the formal
financial sector and the precarious economic and legal situation of
a proportion of the diaspora in host countries such as Belgium.




According to the Belgian Department of Federal Immigration, some
22,000 Congolese, 2,000 Burundians and 6,000 Rwandans are living in
Belgium. Taking into account Belgian inhabitants of Congolese,
Burundian and Rwandan origin and undocumented migrants, the total
size of the diaspora far exceeds 30,000.



To increase the flow and impact of remittances to the Great Lakes
region, the report calls for initiatives, such as IOM’s
Migration for Development in Africa (MIDA) programme, to promote
greater diaspora awareness and involvement in the development of
the home country.



Investment forums, such as those that will take place next year in
the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Burundi under
IOM’s MIDA Great Lakes programme (www.belgium.iom.int/Mida2)
are also important to mobilize remittances for development.



Other initiatives, such as the UK’s Department for
International Development Send money Home project ( "paragraph-link-underlined" href="http://www.sendmoneyhome.org"
target="" title="">www.sendmoneyhome.org) should be further
developed to provide up-to-date data on transaction costs, exchange
rates and other information to encourage migrants to remit through
legal channels.



The development of this type of tool could, according to the
report, further stimulate competition in the formal remittance
market, which would benefit both senders and recipients.



The research was carried out within the framework of the MIDA Great
Lakes programme implemented by IOM Brussels with the financial
support of the Belgian government



For more information, please contact:



Tom De Bruyn

Tel: +32 16 32 30 93

E-mail: "mailto:tom.debruyn@hiva.ku%C3%83%C2%A9euven.be" target="" title=
"">tom.debruyn@hiva.kuéeuven.be



Johan Wets

Tel: +32 16 28 32 25

E-mail: "mailto:johan.wets@hiva.kuleuven.ac.be" target="" title=
"">johan.wets@hiva.kuleuven.ac.be