Kenya has been ranked among Africa’s top three recipients of diaspora remittances behind Nigeria and Ghana, according to a World Bank report.
Even so, according to the bank’s latest Migration and Development Brief, Africa recorded the slowest growth in diaspora remittances compared to other continents in 2022.
According to the report, Kenya received $4.1 billion (Sh503 billion) by end of November, compared to $20.9 billion (Sh2.6 trillion) for Nigeria and Ghana $4.7 billion (Sh577 billion).
Senegal and Zimbabwe have collected $2.7 billion and $2 billion, respectively (Sh245.4 billion), closing among the top five nations in the region.
Diaspora remittances continue to be Kenya’s leading forex earner for the fourth year after outpacing tea, coffee and tourism.
World Bank says digital technologies allow for significantly faster and cheaper remittance services.
“However, the burden of compliance with Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism regulations continues to restrict access of new service providers to correspondent banks,” the lender says.
World Bank says that remittances to Sub-Saharan Africa, the region most highly exposed to the effects of the global crisis, grew an estimated 5.2 per cent to $53 billion in 2022, compared with 16.4 per cent last year.
The growth, though three times lower compared to the previous year, is mainly due to strong flows to Nigeria and Kenya.
“Remittances in 2023 are projected to soften to 3.9 per cent growth as adverse conditions in the global environment and regional source countries persist,” World Bank said in the report.
Read also; Kenyans in Diaspora Sent KES 42 Billion in November – CBK.
