Keeping the lifeline open: Remittances and markets in Somalia

Thursday, August 01, 2013

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Remittances are Somalia’s life-support system and development engine, but the Somali remittance system is under threat.

Remittances to Somalia amount to approximately $1.3 billion a year, 16 percent of which comes from the United States. Remittances are a lifeline for many Somalis, providing them with a means to meet their immediate needs for food, shelter, clothing, and other basic necessities as well as open and sustain small businesses, send children to school, and invest in their communities.

This joint report by Oxfam America, Adeso and the Inter-American Dialogue investigates the obstacles facing the free and secure flow of remittance transfers from the United States to Somalia. It includes that the closure of Somali-American Money Transfer Operators’ (MTOs’) bank accounts in the United States may result in a substantial disruption to Somalia’s recovery and economic growth.

http://www.oxfamamerica.org/files/somalia-remittance-report.pdf

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