Leveraging Diaspora Remittances on Post Ebola Recovery in Sierra Leone
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Baseline Assessment Report Leveraging Diaspora Remittances on Post Ebola Recovery in Sierra Leone 016/2015 1 The contents of this report are the sole responsibility of the author and cannot be taken to reflect the views of the ACP Secretariat and its Member States governments, the European Commission or the International Organization for Migration. Prepared by Awoleye J. Olatunji Date: 21st April, 2016 2 Contents List of acronyms................................................................................................................................... 3 Executive summary .............................................................................................................................. 5 Introduction and background ............................................................................................................... 7 Overview of The State Of Affairs: Background Information on Ebola Virus Disease Outbreak 2014: Trends, Magnitude and Dimensions .................................................................................................... 8 The Potential of Cash Transfer Programmes for Developing Countries ............................................. 9 Diaspora Remittances and Sierra Leone ............................................................................................ 10 Leveraging Diaspora Remittances: Some Guiding Issues for Developing Framework of Analysis and Baseline Assessment Tool ........................................................................................................... 13 Objectives........................................................................................................................................... 13 Baseline Assessment Methodology ................................................................................................... 13 Assessment Results ............................................................................................................................ 15 State of Affairs ................................................................................................................................... 15 Dollarization of the Economy ............................................................................................................ 16 Availability of Relevant Legislation/Regulatory Framework ............................................................ 18 Related programme and project supporting the policy development ................................................ 20 Impact of Remittances ....................................................................................................................... 20 How Government can bridge the gap between migration and development ..................................... 21 Harnessing Remittances to Promote the Development of Sierra Leone ............................................ 21 Logical Framework ............................................................................................................................ 24 Key performance indicator ................................................................................................................. 26 Workplan ............................................................................................................................................ 28 Mapping of NSA stakeholders ........................................................................................................... 30 Analysis of key Stakeholders ............................................................................................................. 30 Feedback regarding the Technical Assistance Fiche ......................................................................... 32 Annexes .............................................................................................................................................. 34 Annex 1 – List of literature reviewed ................................................................................................ 34 Annex 2 – Questionnaires .................................................................................................................. 36 Annex 3 – List of key informants ...................................................................................................... 40 Annex 4 – Data on key Non-State Actors .......................................................................................... 44 3 List of acronyms A4P - Agenda for prosperity AfDB - African development bank BA - Baseline assessment BCD - Bureau de change CDC - Center for disease control and prevention DFID - Department for International Development ECOWAS - Economic Community of West Africa States ERLBs - Exchange rate linked bonds EVD - Ebola virus diseases FGDs - Focus group interviews GDP - Gross domestic product HDI - Human Development Index IMF - International Monetary Fund IOM - International organization of migration IPAD - Innovations for poverty action KIIs - Key informant interviews LDC - Least developed countries ODA - Office of Diaspora Affairs PPP - Proportion of population PRSP - Poverty reduction strategy paper S/Leone - Sierra Leone SALPOST - Sierra Leone postal service SLCU - Sierra Leone central union SLIHS - Sierra Leone Integration Household survey SLLFS - Sierra Leone Labour Force Survey UNCTAD - United Nations Conference on Trade and Development UNDP - United Nation Development Programme USD - United States dollar USD - United States Dollar WB - World Bank WHO - World Health Organization NSA - Non-state actors 4 Executive summary In low-income countries, remittances from abroad are important source of income in sustaining people’s livelihood. They often contribute to fulfillment of basic needs such as paying school fees, house rent, purchasing food etcetera. The history of civil war in Sierra Leone that lasted for more than a decade cannot be separated from foreign currency inflows into the country through remittances today. Remittances in Sierra Leone are a lifeline to many households. During crises such as Ebola that affected Sierra Leone, remittances levels increase rapidly and in important quantities, and seem to have significant effects on coping capacity of the affected and infected. In the case of Sierra Leone, official report shows that there was a drop in funds inflows because most of the funds transferred came through informal market operators which cannot be accounted for. This further necessitates the need for regulatory framework and enforcement task force. In order to harness the gains from diaspora, the government of Sierra Leone established Office of Diaspora Affairs (ODA), with the aim of engaging Sierra Leone Diaspora in national development. The objectives include working with the government to address critical capacity gaps in the public sector by bringing diaspora professional and expert to deliver result in specific areas. ODA is mandated to create linkages between government of Sierra Leone and over 30% of the educated Sierra Leone nationals mostly in the Europe, UK and USA. However, ODA is incapacitated by absence of fundamental frameworks such as diaspora policy and framework for legal funds transfer. There exists a financial regulation document that consists of a section on remittances. The interview sections reveal that most informal market operators and non-state actors are not aware of financial regulatory framework. Although, the framework is known to formal market operators but they all acknowledged that it is overdue for review in order to regulate current trends. Illicit diamond trading that fuelled the civil war is still playing a significant role in informal market financial operation. Desk review and primary data showed that over 30% of financial inflows into Sierra Leone can be attributable to diamond smuggling. Also when cocoa produce is sold and sent overseas, the money is not returned to Sierra Leone in cash. The dealers divert the fund to other purposes, only few are used by the dealers to procure and import goods from overseas to Sierra Leone. This process therefore reduces accruable remittances to Sierra Leone. The study recognizes that informal market is huge and has created employment for many; particularly a tribe in Sierra Leone has built a career around it over the years such that any project on remittances must recognize and work with this group. There exist other nationals who possibly have naturalized and specialized in remittances management. Our interviews with Office of Diaspora Affairs Authority, Sierra Leone Postal Service (SALPOST), Bank of Sierra Leone and the World Bank Directors revealed that remittances can promote development. In collaboration with the four institutions we reviewed United Nations Development programme recommendations on the same subject in Sierra Leone and came up with the following: i. Provision of technical assistance to ODA to develop diaspora framework ii. Provision of technical assistance to Bank of Sierra Leone to develop diaspora remittance policy and passed into law through the parliament iii. Work with Sierra Leone postal service to develop a nationally representative platform for diaspora remittance 5 iv. Creation of taskforce for regulatory and policy framework enforcement v. Formalization and incorporation of informal market into the framework. vi. Reduced limits on individual bank transactions to restrict the flow of cash into the informal banking system (UNDP, 2009). vii. The extension of foreign exchange bureau licenses to allow such bureau to receive remittances