A new report published by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) has shown that Ghana is amongst the countries in Sub Sahara African with the highest cost of remitting money back home.
The report which studied sending cash from cities in France, Germany, and Belgium stated that MoneyGram topped with charges for transfers up to 50 euro.
It charges up to 12% of the fee which translates into 6 euro. This is followed by Western Union with 9.8% translating into 4.90 euro, while Cigue and Ria follow in the third and fourth positions with 9 and 8 percent, translating into 4.5 and 4 euro respectively.
Interestingly, as the amount increases to 200 euro, Western Union becomes the cheapest with a 3.95 percent charge followed by Cigue with 4 percent while Ria and MoneyGram charge 6 and 7 percent respectively.
Per this, the charge for transferring money therefore decreases slightly as the amount increases.
Concerning transfers from the United States of America, the report showed that MoneyGram charges the highest of almost 20 percent when a person transfers 50 dollars.
But charges only 2.9 percent when a person sends 550 dollars. The report further points out that aside the cost borne by the senders, accessibility to Money Transfer Operators is a major factor that affects the amount of money remitted into Ghana.
For example, Ria has a lower charge when people send less than 50 euros, yet it does not have a wide coverage compared to Western Union and MoneyGram.
Additionally, while Vigo and Ria have lower charges when small amounts are sent, most Ghanaians, according to the report, prefer MoneyGram and Western Union because they are accessible and reliable.
This means that the sender bears more cost which affects him or her when remitting cash below 50 euros.
The aim of the report is to help reduce the cost of sending money to sub-Sahara African through the government’s intermediation in the region to enforce it.
Recommendations
Even though the report did not compare the cost of sending money back home among countries in the region, it pointed out that Ghana is among the countries that have a high cost of remitting money to the country.
According to latest report, the cost of sending money is a major factor in determining how much is sent to families and relatives.
Currently Ghana is among the countries with a high cost of remitting money into the country, with efforts aimed at reducing it from a cumulative figure of over 11 percent to 3 percent.
Because the cost of sending money is borne by the sender, the amount remitted is always affected.
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