Nigeria experienced an 11.78% decline in remittance inflows through International Money Transfer Operators in the first half of 2025, with total receipts falling to $2.07 billion from $2.34 billion in the same period of 2024—a shortfall of $275.93 million.

The figures, drawn from the Central Bank of Nigeria’s latest Quarterly Statistical Bulletin released on December 24, highlight persistent challenges in channeling diaspora funds through formal channels, even as remittances remain a vital lifeline for household consumption and foreign exchange liquidity.

The drop comes despite aggressive CBN reforms aimed at boosting inflows, including removing exchange rate caps for IMTOs in January 2024, revising operational guidelines to enhance competition, and establishing a Collaborative Task Force—reporting directly to Governor Olayemi Cardoso—to double remittance volumes. These measures had propelled a 44.5% surge to $4.76 billion in full-year 2024 inflows, but momentum has not carried into 2025.

Quarterly and Monthly Breakdown: Q1 2025 (Jan-Mar): $888.39 million, down 17.9% ($193.14 million) from $1.08 billion in Q1 2024—the sharpest quarterly fall.

• January: $281.97 million (-27.8% from $390.86 million).
• February: $288.82 million (-11.6% from $326.91 million).
• March: $317.60 million (-12.7% from $363.76 million).
• Q2 2025 (Apr-Jun): $1.18 billion, down a milder 6.6% from $1.26 billion in Q2 2024, cushioned by an April spike.
• April: $597.44 million (+28.2% from $466.11 million)—the only month with growth.
• May: $288.17 million (-28.8% from $404.75 million).
• June: $292.25 million (-25.0% from $389.79 million).

The April surge softened the overall half-year decline but proved anomalous, with inflows weakening again in May and June amid seasonal and economic factors.

Diaspora remittances rank as Nigeria’s second-largest foreign exchange source after oil exports, contributing roughly 5-6% to GDP and supporting millions of households amid inflation averaging 30%+ in 2025.

Formal IMTO channels (Western Union, MoneyGram, Ria, etc.) captured the bulk, but informal transfers—via hand-carried cash or unregistered networks—likely offset some decline, though harder to quantify. The World Bank estimates total remittances (formal and informal) at $20-25 billion annually, underscoring their role in poverty alleviation and economic stability.

Reasons for the Decline

Industry stakeholders attribute the slowdown to a mix of domestic and global headwinds, such as inflationary pressures in advanced economies, such as the US, UK, EU, tighter labor markets, tougher migration policies, and potential shifts to informal channels due to naira volatility.

The World Bank notes that while global remittances to low- and middle-income countries grew 1.5% to $690 billion in 2025, Sub-Saharan Africa saw subdued flows due to economic slowdowns in host nations.

Broader Implications

As Nigeria’s external reserves hover around $40-46 billion, weaker remittances pressure the balance of payments at a time of high debt service of $2.32 billion, as of H1 2025, and import dependence.

A 10% increase in remittances correlates with 2% GDP growth (World Bank estimates), fueling sectors like fintech, e-commerce, and edtech.

While Nigeria’s H1 formal inflows declined, full-year projections remain optimistic at $23 billion—up from $19.5 billion in 2023 and representing 35% of Sub-Saharan Africa’s total, driven by diaspora engagement and digital platforms.

Globally, remittances to low- and middle-income countries grew 1.5% to $690 billion in 2025. Africa saw inflows surge to $95 billion in 2024.

Latin America bucked the trend with 10.9% growth in Q1 2025, highlighting Nigeria’s underperformance relative to peers.

China has unveiled a far-reaching overhaul of the rules governing funds raised by domestic companies through overseas listings, signaling a renewed push by Beijing to tighten supervision of cross-border capital flows while still keeping global fundraising channels open.

Under the new guidelines jointly issued on Friday by the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), companies will be required, “in principle,” to repatriate proceeds raised from offshore share sales back to the mainland. The rules, which take effect on April 1, 2026, are part of a broader effort to reduce financial risks, improve transparency, and strengthen control over the capital account at a time of heightened global market volatility.

The regulators said that if companies intend to keep funds overseas for purposes such as foreign direct investment, overseas securities investment, or the provision of overseas loans, they must secure approval before the listing is completed. This pre-approval requirement closes a long-standing grey area that allowed some firms to retain large pools of offshore capital with limited oversight after listing abroad.

To further tighten supervision, the rules mandate the use of dedicated capital accounts for all cross-border fund settlements related to overseas listings. Proceeds generated through shareholder transactions, including the buying or selling of overseas-listed shares, are also expected to be repatriated in principle. Regulators view these measures as essential to improving the traceability of funds and preventing misuse, speculative flows, or hidden capital flight.

At the same time, the guidelines include targeted flexibilities aimed at avoiding unnecessary disruption to corporate finance activities. Companies will be permitted to use either offshore or onshore funds to buy back their own overseas-listed shares, giving them room to manage valuations, investor expectations, and capital structures in volatile markets.

The rules also clarify treatment under the H-share “full circulation” regime, which allows all shares of a mainland-incorporated company to become tradable in Hong Kong. Under the new framework, fund transfers linked to full circulation must go through ChinaClear’s designated accounts, strengthening oversight of settlement flows. Dividends paid to mainland shareholders must be settled in renminbi within China rather than through offshore channels, reinforcing Beijing’s preference for keeping RMB flows onshore and under regulatory supervision.

While oversight is being tightened, authorities moved to ease administrative frictions. Registration deadlines related to overseas listings have been extended to 30 days from 15 days, a change intended to reduce compliance pressure and improve predictability for companies planning offshore IPOs or secondary listings. The PBOC and SAFE said they would continue refining cross-border capital management rules to strike a balance between risk control and convenience.

The new framework reflects Beijing’s evolving approach to financial openness. After years of encouraging overseas listings to help companies tap global capital, regulators have become more cautious as geopolitical tensions, U.S. scrutiny of Chinese firms, currency pressures, and episodes of capital outflow have raised concerns about financial stability. Chinese authorities now aim to ensure that offshore fundraising ultimately supports domestic economic activity rather than remaining outside the regulatory perimeter, by formalizing repatriation expectations and strengthening account-level supervision.

Market participants say the rules are unlikely to halt overseas listings outright, but they could influence how companies structure deals and manage post-listing capital. Firms with significant overseas expansion plans may face longer lead times and closer scrutiny, while those seeking to retain funds offshore will need clearer justifications aligned with policy objectives.

Overall, the measures underline Beijing’s message that international capital markets remain accessible, but on terms that prioritize macro-financial stability, regulatory visibility, and tighter control over cross-border funding flows.

Google appears to be quietly rewriting one of Gmail’s longest-standing rules, offering users a way to change their @gmail.com email address without losing data, history, or access to core services — a shift that could affect hundreds of millions of accounts worldwide if fully rolled out.

According to an update spotted on Google’s account help pages, Gmail users can now replace their existing email address with a new one while keeping the same Google Account. That means emails, photos, files, messages, subscriptions, and service logins remain intact, eliminating a pain point that has frustrated users for years.

The change has not been formally announced. Instead, it surfaced through updated guidance on Google’s Hindi-language support page, which explicitly outlines how users can modify their Gmail address. The English-language version of the same page continues to state that Gmail addresses “usually cannot be changed,” suggesting the feature is still being tested, region-limited, or in the early stages of a phased rollout.

The Hindi support page says the feature is “gradually rolling out to all users,” implying eventual global availability. The presence of the update only in Hindi has led to speculation that India or Hindi-speaking markets may be the first testing ground, though Google has not confirmed this. The company did not immediately respond to questions about regional availability or a broader timeline.

Under the new policy, when a user changes their Gmail address, the original email is automatically retained as an alias. Messages sent to the old address will continue to arrive in the inbox, and the original address can still be used to sign in to Google services such as Gmail, Google Drive, YouTube, Google Maps, and Photos. This design appears aimed at minimizing disruption, particularly for users whose email addresses are deeply embedded in work tools, subscriptions, and third-party apps.

Google also says that all existing data remains unchanged after an address update. Emails, attachments, photos, chat histories, and cloud-stored files stay exactly where they are, tied to the same account. Users can also switch back to using the original email address later if they choose, according to a Google-translated version of the Hindi support page.

There are limits, though. Accounts that change their Gmail address cannot create another new Gmail address for 12 months, and the newly selected address cannot be deleted. These restrictions likely reflect Google’s effort to prevent repeated changes, impersonation risks, or misuse of the feature.

Until now, Gmail users who wanted a more professional or updated address — often because of addresses created in adolescence or early internet years — had to create an entirely new Google Account. That process required manual data transfers, re-linking third-party services, and updating login credentials across dozens of apps and platforms, often leading to broken integrations or lost messages. Google itself previously acknowledged that changing a Gmail address was not supported in most cases.

The quiet nature of the update suggests Google may be moving cautiously, testing user behavior and technical impacts before making a broader announcement. Gmail is deeply embedded across consumer, business, and developer ecosystems, and even small changes to account identity can have far-reaching consequences for security, authentication, and data integrity.

The timing is also notable. Google has been under growing pressure to modernize long-standing account limitations as competition intensifies from newer communication platforms and as users demand more control over digital identity. Allowing address changes without account disruption aligns with broader trends toward portability and flexibility in online services.

However, the absence of an official announcement currently leaves several questions unanswered, including which users qualify, whether paid Google Workspace accounts are included, and how the feature interacts with enterprise security policies. Deeper clarity is likely to come once Google updates its English-language documentation or issues a formal statement.

Still, if rolled out globally as indicated, the change would mark one of Gmail’s most significant user-centric updates in years, offering long-time account holders a rare chance to shed outdated email identities without sacrificing the digital history tied to them.