World Bank requests Nigeria, Mexico, and others to reduce remittance fees – The World Bank Group has recommended that countries of origin in migration, such as Nigeria, Mexico, and others, reduce remittance costs, facilitate knowledge transfers from their diaspora, and develop globally in-demand skills.
It was stated that this would enable their citizens to obtain better employment if they migrate, reduce the negative effects of “brain drain,” protect their nationals while abroad, and support them upon their return.
Indermit Gill, chief economist of the World Bank Group and senior vice president for development economics, stated that origin countries should explicitly incorporate labor migration into their development strategies.
The World Development Report 2023: Migrants, Refugees, and Societies, which was published yesterday, identifies this trend as a rare opportunity to make migration more beneficial for economies and people.
Many countries, including Mexico, Nigeria, and the United Kingdom, both ship and receive migrants, according to his explanation.
He stated that countries of destination should encourage migration where the skills migrants bring are in high demand, facilitate their integration, and resolve social impacts that raise citizen concerns. They should permit refugees to relocate, obtain employment, and access national services wherever they are offered.
Cooperation on the international level is essential if migration is to become a potent driver of development. Bilateral cooperation can improve the compatibility between the skills of migrants and the requirements of receiving societies.
He stated, “This World Development Report proposes a straightforward but effective framework to facilitate the formulation of migration and refugee policy. It specifies when such policies can be implemented unilaterally by countries of destination, when they should be implemented plurilaterally by countries of destination, transit, and origin, and when they must be considered a multilateral responsibility.
Populations across the globe are aging at an unprecedented rate, according to the World Bank Group, leaving many nations increasingly dependent on migration to realize their long-term development potential.
The bank stated that multilateral efforts are required to share the costs of harboring refugees and to address migration crises. Voices that are underrepresented in the migration debate must be heard, including those of developing nations, the private sector, and other stakeholders, as well as migrants and refugees.
It revealed that affluent nations, as well as an increasing number of middle-income nations, which have historically been among the primary sources of migrants, are experiencing declining populations, thereby intensifying the global competition for workers and talent.
In the meantime, the majority of low-income nations are anticipated to experience rapid population growth, placing them under pressure to create more jobs for youth.
Axel van Trotsenburg, senior managing director of the World Bank, stated, “Migration can be a powerful force for prosperity and development.” “When it is managed properly, it provides benefits for all people – in both origin and destination societies.”
In many countries, the proportion of adults of working age is predicted to decline sharply in the future decades. With a current population of 47 million, Spain is projected to lose more than a third of its inhabitants by 2100, with the proportion of those aged 65 and older increasing from 20% to 39%. Because their populations are no longer growing, nations such as Mexico, Thailand, Tunisia, and Turkey may shortly require more foreign labor.
“Beyond this demographic shift, the forces driving migration are also changing, making cross-border movements more diverse and complex,” the report noted.
Not only do current approaches fail to maximize the potential development benefits of migration, but they also cause tremendous suffering for people migrating in peril. Approximately 2.5% of the world’s population, or 184 million individuals, including 37 million refugees, currently reside outside of their country of origin. The majority, 43%, resides in developing nations, according to the World Bank.
The report emphasizes the importance of improving migration management. The objective of policymakers should be to improve the match between the skills of migrants and the needs of destination societies, while safeguarding refugees and reducing the need for forced migration. The report provides policymakers with a framework for achieving this objective.