As other African countries lament a shortfall in Diaspora remittances, Rwanda’s coffers indicate that the money from abroad increased by 25.8 percent within the first five months of this year.

The first five months of this year saw remittances increase to $71.4 million compared to $56.8 million received last year. The data is collected from commercial banks, money transfer agents like Western Union, Money Gram and other informal transfers.

Central Bank Governor François Kanimba last year noted that actual remittances are still a challenge to measure as they are heterogeneous in nature, come from numerous countries and a sizable chunk comes in through informal channels.

Diaspora remittances have become a key foreign exchange earner for Africa with about US$5 billion released every twelve months.

As of August last year, $128.2 million was recorded in remittances representing 42 percent of Rwanda’s total export earnings.

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