remittance

Remittances are the quiet economy. Nigerians in London, Houston, Toronto and Dubai send money home every month, and it adds up to billions of dollars a year, which is more than many industries generate.

Behind the number is something no statistic captures. School fees paid. A parent's medicine. A sister's business started. A roof repaired before the rains.

The part worth understanding is the cost. Sending money is never free, and the fee you can see is rarely the whole story. Many services advertise low charges and then take their real profit in the exchange rate, giving you fewer naira per pound than the true rate. On £500 that gap can quietly cost you more than the fee ever did.

So compare the naira that actually land, not the fee that is advertised. Two services can charge the same and deliver very different amounts.

And a harder truth, said gently. Money sent home builds far more when it is invested in something that produces, rather than consumed and asked for again next month. That is a family conversation, not a financial one, and it is usually the harder of the two.