Formalizing Remittances for Forcibly Displaced People: Findings from the Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is home to 10 percent of the world’s entire population of internally displaced people – the largest such situation in Africa, with an estimated 5 million people. The DRC also hosts more than half a million refugees and asylum seekers from neighboring countries. In this context of forced displacement, access to formal financial services is uncommon. At just over 10 percent of the adult (15 years or older) population, the rate of bank account ownership is three times lower than the level of access across sub-Saharan Africa.