Kenyans living and working abroad have become a major source of the foreign exchange the country badly needs for development and to meet its other financial needs.
The remittances averaging an equivalent of Sh1.78 billion daily lifted the August diaspora inflows to a record Sh55 billion. It is only logical that this should be sustained or even increased.
These Kenyans, mainly in North America, work hard and make sacrifices to be able to remit the money back home. The best the country can do for them is to ensure that the funds are secured and channelled into projects and programmes that will give them fair returns on their savings. The people who toil to earn the money they send to the country also need encouragement.
In August, they remitted $427.2 million (Sh55.13 billion), setting a new record in a single month. According to the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), the remittances rose from Sh53 billion in July.
The cumulative eight-month remittance amounted to $2.81 billion (Sh362.4 billion), up from $2.77 billion (Sh356.9 billion) last year. In June, CBK revised its annual growth forecast for diaspora remittances to 12 per cent from 5 per cent. This was after a 20 per cent growth in the first four months.
Since 2015, diaspora transfers have been the largest source of foreign exchange flows into Kenya. They have surpassed tourism, foreign direct investments and key agricultural exports such as horticulture and tea.
The Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs should step up awareness campaigns and promotion of genuine investment prospects. There is also a need to streamline and enable formal schemes to prevent the people from being conned by relatives and racketeers such as the ones behind the common land sale and construction rip-offs.
The government must make good its pledge in February to roll out incentives to boost diaspora remittances to at least Sh1 trillion a year.
