Ghana Country Study
Abstract
This country study begins with an introduction and then contains chapters as follows: characteristics and dispersal of Ghanaian migrants, estimates on the volume of informal (unrecorded) flows to Ghana, the use of informal remittance systems amongst Ghanaians, types of informal remittance systems, determinants of informal remittances to Ghana, and finally, conclusions.
A large population of Ghanaians lives outside Ghana, and their contribution to the Ghanaian economy and to individual households is increasingly recognized. Mass emigration in the 1970s and 1980s has helped to sustain a steady flow of migrants up to the present and created a large diaspora that spans Europe, North America and elsewhere. This has shaped remittance flows, the volumes of which are difficult to measure accurately, as discussed in the third section. Estimates on formal remittances made by the IMF, World Bank and Bank of Ghana are analysed and the size of informal remittance flows compared to formal flows is discussed, and the importance of the Ghana Living Standards Survey as a means of gauging the impact of remittances on households throughout Ghana is highlighted.
Citation
Ghana Country Study, ESRC Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS), Oxford, UK, i + 18 pp.
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