In 2018, an amount of US$3.8 billion, translating into GH¢27 billion, was sent home by Ghanaians living abroad to their relatives. Out of the figure, $1,02,000,000 billion, representing 29% was sent by Ghanaian women living abroad. This is a 9% increase over a four-year period, which is between 2014 and 2018.
In recent data released by WorldRemit, a leading online money transfer service, the proportion of females sending digital money transfers to Ghana via WorldRemit has risen by nine percentage points within the last five years.
It indicted that despite the global gender gap, Ghanaian women send home an average of 6% more per transactions than their male compatriots, and 29% of WorldRemit customers sending to Ghana are female, compared to 20% in 2014.
Mobile-to-mobile remittances (transfers sent to mobile accounts via web or app) account for almost 70% of remittances sent by the women. WorldRemit disclosed this in a release to mark International Women’s Day on March 8, and to celebrate the contribution Ghanaian women living and working abroad make to their home country.
The release issued by WorldRemit Public Relations Officer Akinyi Ochieng, said: “The new data reveals that the gender gap for sending digital remittances to Ghana is rapidly closing, driven by an increase in international mobile money transfers.”
Pardon Mujakachi, Country Manager for Ghana at WorldRemit, says: “Ensuring digital inclusion for financial services for women on both the send and receive side is critically important, as we know that when women thrive, families, businesses and local economies thrive too.
“Our data shows that women play an increasingly vital role in Ghana’s development by sending money home to support education, cover healthcare costs, make investments, and more. At WorldRemit, we’re committed to simplifying that process, and making it faster, cheaper and easier to send and receive remittances.”
WorldRemit customers complete over 1.3 million transfers every month from over 50 countries to over 145 destinations.
The UN estimates that over 47% of Ghanaian migrants are female, with the majority living in countries such as the United Kingdom, United States, and Germany. Money sent from mothers, sisters and aunts living abroad helps millions of families in Ghana pay for essential needs such as healthcare and education.
Globally, women represent approximately half of all remittance senders, and tend to send a higher proportion of their incomes, despite earning less than men. Evidence suggests that although female migrants tend to earn less than their male counterparts, they send a higher proportion of their incomes home more frequently.
Digital money transfer companies are improving women’s access to remittances and helping their money go further. WorldRemit enables the Ghanaian diaspora to send money home in a few taps from their phones without having to travel to an agent, lowering costs and increasing speed and convenience.
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