WRI's latest What Works case study, Thamel.com: Diaspora-enabled Development, is now available through the NextBillion.net Case Studies page. The report documents a Nepal-based marketing and development company that has tapped the resources of the diaspora to create new opportunities for Nepalese workers, generate cultural value, and help move local businesses in a new direction

The company has five mutually reinforcing business divisions. The most lucrative and well known is the Gift Shoppe, an online portal which sells gifts to the Nepalese diaspora that are then procured and delivered locally to family and friends still living in Nepal. The IT Chemist division helps local entrepreneurs start their own e-commerce sites, while the export division helps them sell items overseas. Thamel Remit provides remittance, insurance and other financial services, and Thamel International replicates the company's successes globally.

With international remittance flows to the developing world set to top $167bn this year, a newly released report by the United Nations shows that remittance flows to the African continent, averaging US$17bn per annum between 2000 and 2003, have surpassed Foreign Direct Investment during the same period.

While official aid remains atop the list of external finance flows to Africa, worldwide remittance flows are more than double official aid, and governments, NGOs and the private sector alike are beginning to capitalize on these transfers as a driving force for growth.