Fakeye, Ngozi Ezeigwe; (2025) Migration and remittance entrepreneurship: a study of the UK-Nigeria money transfer corridor. Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).

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Abstract

The UK-Nigeria remittance corridor is a significant economic channel in Sub-Saharan Africa, with Nigerian diaspora remittances reaching an estimated USD20 billion in 2022. . This thesis investigates money transfer businesses within the UK-Nigeria corridor, focusing on the experiences of British Nigerian entrepreneurs. It develops the new concept of ‘remittance entrepreneurship’ and analyses the activities, opinions and impacts of a group of people known as ‘remittance entrepreneurs’ as well as their diaspora customers. This perspective brings a novel approach to existing scholarship on migration, remittances and development. This research employed a mixed-methods approach, combining qualitative and quantitative techniques. It included 45 semi-structured interviews, two online surveys, nine focus groups, and the analysis of existing secondary datasets. The multi-sited research design, spanning the UK and Nigeria, captures the transnational nature of diaspora entrepreneurship and development. The study reveals that stringent regulations, high compliance costs, and limited access to finance create significant barriers to entry for British Nigerian entrepreneurs in formal remittance businesses. These challenges have led to the growth of informal money transfer operators catering to niche market segments and leveraging ethnic networks and personal trust. The research finds that the entrepreneurs who run these informal remittance firms often establish other business ventures that can contribute to development in Nigeria. The thesis argues for pragmatic policy reforms to reduce regulatory burdens and support the formalisation of these diaspora remittance businesses. The research engages with academic debates about trust. It contrasts institutional trust in formal systems with personal relationships and community ties in informal systems. It argues for more ethnographic accounts of trust in remittance practices. The study also examines technological innovations, particularly peer-to-peer platforms, and explores how these disrupt traditional remittance models. However, it finds that technological changes alone do not alter the wider structural environment, highlighting the need for adaptive regulatory frameworks that balance consumer protection with innovation and competition. While acknowledging that global financial transfer structures favour existing vested interests, this thesis demonstrates that remittance entrepreneurs find opportunities within the transnational financial ecosystem.

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