Paper short abstract:

Remittance payers are under-utilized and supported by the UN and donor agencies. This paper examines the forces that constrain remittances and suggests how the role of these migrants can be reconceptualized to mobilize their active participation in sustainable development in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Paper long abstract:

Goal 10 of the SDGs seeks to reduce inequality by limiting the transaction costs of remittances to less than 3% and eliminating corridors, which cost more than 5% by 2030. Making remittance transactions affordable is timely given that they were three times higher than foreign aid budgets to the developing world in 2012. This comparison between remittances and foreign aid tacitly recognizes these migrants as important actors in international development. There are no other explicit references to remittances in the SDGs or in the preceding MDGs. This absence demands analysis of how this group is conceptualized in related development agendas by other 'development actors', including UN and donor agencies.

More recent figures indicate that remittance growth has slowed to low and middle incomes countries since 2015. Flows in Sub-Saharan Africa are constrained by high transaction fees, corruption, and limitations on out-migration. Furthermore, remittance payers are under-utilized and under-supported by actors and agreements in the development landscape. This problem stems from the challenges of conceptualizing the role of remittance payers in sustainable development. As such, this paper applies a predominantly sociological analysis to examine how inequality, identity, and political interference in 'private matters' impact the active participation of this group. This paper is informed by interviews with members of donor organizations, remittance payers and diaspora groups. The policy implications are significant as this study seeks to understand how the reconceptualization of remittance payers by other development actors can optimize their contributions to sustainable development in Sub-Saharan Africa.