The
Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), a trade bloc of eight African nations, and the UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) recently entered a two-year partnership intended to standardize remittances policies in the IGAD member countries: Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda.
IGAD Executive Secretary Dr Workneh Gebeyehu said, “The work that our two organizations now undertake together will strengthen central banks and other government stakeholders, which will in turn promote increased remittance flows through formal channels, and contribute to the implementation of IGAD’s Migration Action Plan 2015-2020, including its specific strategic priorities on remittances.”
Under the partnership, IGAD and UNCDF plan to: (1) conduct market research about remittance flows, specifically how the shift from cash to digital remittances may impact the financial ecosystem of the region; (2) increase peer-learning among IGAD, central banks, regional banks and remittance providers; and (3) review existing policies in each country, seeking opportunities for harmonization and other ways to facilitate the flow of remittances.
The Swedish International Development Cooperation (SIDA), an agency of the government of Sweden, will support the initiative with research on remittances policies in partnership with regional stakeholders such as the African Institution of Remittances (AIR), an NGO funded by the UN Network on Migration that evaluates and implements remittance strategies across the member countries of the African Union. SIDA is the main funder of the IGAD-UNCDF project.
Founded in 1996, IGAD’s mission is to improve food security and environmental protection, maintain peace and security, and facilitate economic cooperation within its member countries.
Established in 1996 and headquartered in the US city of New York, UNCDF endeavors to create opportunities for poor people and their businesses by increasing access to microfinance and other forms of investment capital. The organization operates in 47 countries in Africa, Asia and the Pacific with a particular commitment to countries emerging from crises. For 2020, UNCDF had a budget of USD 75 million and supported initiatives providing financial services to 3 million unbanked and underbanked clients.
By Sophie Fiala, Research Associate
Sources and Additional Resources
IGAD press release
https://igad.int/divisions/health-and-social-development/2016-05-24-03-16-37/2702-igad-and-uncdf-announce-agreement-to-formalize-enhance-regional-remittance-flows
IGAD homepage
https://igad.int/
IGAD Migration Action plan
https://www.iom.int/sites/default/files/our_work/ICP/RCP/2018/igad/igadmigrationactionplan2015-2020.pdf
UNCDF homepage
https://www.uncdf.org/
UNCDF 2020 report
https://annualreport.uncdf.org/2020
UN Network on Migration homepage
https://migrationnetwork.un.org/
SIDA homepage
https://www.sida.se/
African Union homepage
https://au.int
AIR homepage
https://au.int/
Previous MicroCapital article on UNCDF
https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-solomon-islands-launches-3rd-national-financial-inclusion-strategy/
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