UK Licenses 266 Nigerian Doctors in Two Months as Diaspora Remittances Rev Up Nigeria’s External Reserves
- The United Kingdom's General Medical Council has licensed about 266 Nigerian doctors between June and July, 2022
- This is indicative of about 2 doctors per day being licensed in that country as the mass movement of health from Nigeria to other countries continue
- However, the Nigeria's external reserves has witnessed an improvement which has been attributed to CBN's remittance policy, the RT200
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The General Medical Council which offers licenses and maintains the official register of medical practitioners in the United Kingdom has licensed about 266 Nigerian doctors in June and July, 2022, according to a report by The Punch.
What that means is that three Nigerian doctors were licensed per day in June and July irrespective of the moves by the Nigerian government to stop the mass movement of doctors and health workers in Nigeria from moving abroad in search of green pastures.
Source: Getty Images
Many Nigerian doctors wants to leave
Data obtained by the MC register shows that the number of Nigeria-trained doctors currently in the US stands at about 9,976.
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This figure excludes other Nigerian doctors who did not undergo medical training in Nigeria.
Presently, Nigeria is the third-highest exporter of foreign doctors to the UK behind India and Pakistan.
According to the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, there are over 100,000 Nigerian doctors registered with the council.
The ratio of doctors to patients in Nigeria stills falls below the accepted international standards of 1:600 recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
A 2018 research shows that 88 per cent of doctors in Nigeria are open to working overseas.
Foreign remittances swell external reserves
This comes as Nigeria’s external reserves added $45.3 million in July, according to a ThisDay report which cited data released by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The foreign exchange cushion as of July 28, 2022, moved to $39.22 billion from $39.17 billion at the beginning of the month under review.
The increase has been attributed to CBN’s RT$200 billion Foreign Exchange programme which was unveiled in February 2022 and has revived exchange earnings from non-oil sectors.
The guideline states exporters will be paid N65.00 for every $100 repatriated and sold at the Investors & Exporters Foreign Exchange Window to licensed dealing banks for other third-party use and N35.00 for every $100 repatriated and sold at the I&FX.
The CBN aims to raise about $200 billion in foreign exchange earnings from non-oil exports over the next three to five years.
The CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele stated that members of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) hailed the performance of the RT200 and other initiatives which aim at improving reserves and stabilising the local currency.
Latest record show 10 African countries with highest diaspora remittances
Legit.ng reported that the World Bank said that in 2022, the remittance view is moderately positive, according to Business Insider.
The bank released its Migration and Development Brief, saying that growth is expected to continue at 7.0 per cent to $55 billion.
The growth, World Bank said, is despite the general adverse economic environment globally.
Source: Legit.ng
