Remittances to Ghana: Benefits to the Housing Sector and Impact of Financial Crisis

Abstract

The role of inflow of overseas remittances towards the development of housing sector in Ghana, and the impact of recent financial crisis on the development process is investigated. This is achieved through a review and analysis of information gathered through national and international statistical sources and targeted household and institutional interviews. As a prelude to the analysis the study assessed the importance of remittance as large and growing part of the economic underpinning of developing countries. It then assesses whether remittances have a particular relationship with housing. The research provided an estimate of the nature, level and uses of remittances and the different cyclical characters of other flows. It reveals that the successful real estate market development across Ghana during the past decade benefited from a buoyant national economy, improved financial systems and family remittances. However, the picture changed especially during 2008 attributed mainly to the global financial crisis and economic downturn. The reverberating problems of unemployment and high levels of bankruptcies in the advanced countries were felt but not as pronounced as they were in the major industrialised economies. The discussions concluded by posing a much broader question in relation to other developing countries about how remittances could be mobilised towards the development of the housing sector.