The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has raised a rarely aired concern at the heart of its new remittance strategy: that second-generation Ghanaians abroad may not feel compelled to send money home at all, threatening the long-term stability of an inflow that now exceeds $7.8 billion annually.
Speaking at the Remit2Invest roundtable held in Virginia, United States, on Sunday, the central bank’s Head of Fintech and Innovation, Rexford Agyemang-Sarpong, put the generational challenge in direct terms.
“Our kids may not see the need to remit because maybe all your friends are in the US. There is no strong connection to your grandmother,” he said, adding that the solution lay in moving away from obligation as the primary motivation. “We need to move from obligation-based remittances to opportunity-based remittances.”
Governor Johnson Asiama echoed that concern, noting that retaining the loyalty of younger diaspora members would require purpose-built digital and identity-based approaches aligned with how they save and invest.
The remarks give sharper context to the BoG’s broader Remit2Invest agenda, which the Governor unveiled at the same event. Inflows reached $7.8 billion in 2025, up from $4.6 billion the year before, and now account for roughly six percent of Ghana’s gross domestic product (GDP), surpassing foreign direct investment (FDI). The United States remains the single largest source of these funds.
The generational dimension signals that the strategy is not only about redirecting existing flows into productive sectors, but about ensuring those flows remain intact as the diaspora evolves. The BoG is developing diaspora bonds, collective investment schemes and foreign-currency-denominated products to give Ghanaians abroad more structured ways to participate in the domestic economy, reducing dependency on informal or consumption-driven channels.
A panellist at the forum, Mrs Adams Safianu, broadened the picture further, noting that the ability to remit is itself vulnerable. “Everything we set out for is dependent on our ability to go to work and make money. Investment is not only money,” she said, highlighting income security and skills as part of any durable diaspora engagement strategy.
The Remit2Invest forum, held at the Hilton Alexandria Mark, brought together Ghanaian professionals from the Washington D.C., Virginia and Maryland area alongside officials from the BoG, commercial banks and the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC).
