Remittances from migrants are a major source of financing for the economies of developing countries and of the recipient populations. They are of great benefit to large segments of the population which, without these resources, would live in conditions of abject poverty. Consequently, remittance flows tend to remain stable even when the migrants’ countries of residence are beset by economic and financial crisis. They seem to be less volatile than official development assistance and foreign direct investment. This is true for countries of the Maghreb and the Franc Zone especially those that form the core focus of this study, namely Morocco, Tunisia, Senegal, Cameroon and Comoros. Furthermore, remittance costs are currently stabilizing at a high level. This has spurred states to national, bilateral and multilateral action.

This research program has been based on case studies and workshops organized at country level with financial institutions, governments, diaspora members and entrepreneurs to issue a number of specific recommendations (regulatory framework changes, financial technological and products innovations) to optimize the impact of remittances on development. As an example, four types of financial and technological pro­ducts and services are considered:

• Improved “classic” remittance products and services;
• Linked bank account products and ser­vices;
• Products for collective investments by mi­grant associations and long-term institu­tional investment products (stock market, bank and financial products);
• Products and services using ICTs for North/South mobile banking transfers and the development of automated payment and e-banking.