Remittance flow to Ethiopia significantly increased in the past couple of years and expected to grow more than 50 percent in the next three years, according to the World Bank. The National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) reported last year that official receipt of remittance to the country reached to 1.5 billion dollars, by registering 88 percent increase over the previous year.

However, an international organisations such as the World Bank assessment has always put the figure above the country's foreign exchange earnings, accounting for informal channels.

The top three countries in remittance flow in 2012 are India ($70 billion), China ($66 billion) and Philippines ($24 billion). World wide remittance, including those to high income countries, are also expected to reach 534 billion dollars in 2012, and projected to grow to 685 billion dollars in 2015, according to the latest issue of the Bank's Migration and Development Brief, released last week.