Even as more Kenyans continue to look for employment opportunities inside the African continent and beyond, Kenya has seen a 42 percent surge in remittances from the Diaspora in the last seven months. Diaspora Remittances Kenya
Data from the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) show that, in the seven months leading up to July 2023, Kenyan residents who were abroad remitted at least $164.4 million (Ksh22.2 billion), a significant rise from the $116 million (Ksh15.6 billion) they sent home in the same period last year.
In a time when North America and Europe are struggling with high inflation, which averaged 8% in the US and 7.9% in the UK, the growth is the quickest among all continents.
The yearning for “greener pastures” in terms of work and education is what drives most Kenyans to leave their nation and seek their fortune abroad.
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The United States of America, United Kingdom and United Arab Emirates are three cases of countries that, according to reports, provide Kenyans with greater opportunities globally, while Zambia and Uganda are two examples of countries that do the same in Africa.
Zambia saw a more than twofold increase in inflows, rising by 136% to $5 million. Uganda then saw a gain of 113.5% in the amount of money Kenyans sent there.
Since then, US inflation has decreased, reaching 3.2 percent in July. The largest economy in the world, however, still saw a fall of 1.6 percent ($22 million) to $1.36 billion over the course of the previous seven months.
Remittances, which are the main source of foreign exchange entering Kenya, totaled $4.3 billion (Ksh483 billion last year), surpassing revenue from the tourism industry, which brought in Ksh268 billion ($1.85 billion), Ksh163 billion ($1.13 billion), and Ksh152.2 billion ($1.1 billion) from horticulture.
Geopolitical tensions caused high worldwide inflation, which prompted the United States to raise interest rates. This led to contractionary global monetary policies and a preference for government securities as investment assets as a result of a decline in foreign investment in Kenya.
While Oman’s inflows decreased by 68% to $1.1 million, Qatar reported a 38.4% drop to $31.9 million.
South Africa likewise reported a big decline, cutting its revenue in half from $13.5 million in January to July of last year to $6.3 million. Diaspora Remittances Kenya
