ABOUT US
The African Remittance Conference (AREC), which will hold in Yaounde from November 23rd - 25th, 2009, is the initiative of the Institute of Financial and Development Studies (IFIDS), an independent financial think-tank, in partnership with Cameroon’s Ministry of Finance.
Remittances -- money sent home by migrant workers -- have been ballooning in the last couple of years, and in many developing countries now exceed the combined volume of international aid and foreign direct investment.
The Yaounde conference shall bring together finance and development experts as well as actors in the money transfer sector from Africa and the rest of the world to examine this phenomenon and determine why Africa is not yet cashing in on this opportunity. They will also map out strategies to increase the volume of remittances flowing into Africa and explore possible links between Africa’s economic growth, international aid, foreign direct investment and remittances.
On the sidelines of AREC-2009, money transfer operators, banks, telecommunication companies, microfinance institutions, etc. shall be exhibiting their remittance products, services and technologies, especially those adapted to African needs and realities.