Nigeria, Egypt led other Africa countries in $95bn remittances inflows in 2024, says report

Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) has revealed that Africa received over $95 billion in remittances in 2024, with Nigeria, Egypt, and Morocco leading as top recipients.

AFC in its report titled ” State of Africa’s Infrastructure Report 2025″, stated that the inflow nearly matched total foreign direct investment (FDI) into the continent that year, underscoring the rising significance of diaspora contributions to African economies.

The report highlighted that, aside from 2024, remittances have consistently outpaced seeFDI, portfolio flows, and official development assistance in recent years—making them one of Africa’s most stable and dependable sources of external finance.

Nigeria continued to rank as a key remittance hub, driven by its large and engaged diaspora.

The AFC described the surge in remittances as a turning point, offering a more structured and transparent link between African economies and offshore wealth, marking a shift from decades of capital flight.

“In 2024, Africa received over $95 billion in remittances from its global diaspora—an amount roughly equivalent to total FDI inflows to the continent that year. The largest recipients were Egypt, Nigeria, and Morocco, followed by a growing number of mid-sized economies with substantial emigrant populations.
“Remittances have proven to be a stable and resilient source of external finance, often outperforming portfolio flows and official development assistance in terms of consistency,” the report read in part.

According to the report, between 1970 and 2004, Africa lost over $420 billion to capital flight, much of it through informal and opaque channels. These losses, compounded by labour migration, weakened domestic investment capacity and disconnected African financial systems from wealth held abroad.

The figures, cited from estimates by economists Léonce Ndikumana and James K. Boyce, covered 40 Sub-Saharan African countries.