The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) indicated last week that immigrants transferred 577 billion euros to their families in 2021. In Chad, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) also published another study on the impact of remittances to the country, with transfers that contribute to improving the living conditions of families. More than 800 of them were interviewed for this report.
With our correspondent in Ndjamena, Madjiasra Nako
The study focused mainly on families in the capital Ndjamena. And one of the important pieces of information concerns the average sums sent by emigrants to their relatives remained in the country: 125,000 CFA francs, according to the report. The countries of origin of these funds are France, the United States, Saudi Arabia, Libya and Egypt.
Of these transfers, 68% of the money received is usually used to finance education expenses, 61% for food and 46% for health-related expenses.
The study does not specify the social classes concerned by these money transfers, but it is clear that the households which benefit from them see their living conditions improve compared to the families which do not receive them: their children go to school, they look after themselves and even manage to support other people.
The report recommends that future studies be extended to other provinces of Chad in order to better understand the real impact of these transfers on the country’s economy, beyond family aid.