The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is rivaling the United Kingdom (UK) as one of the top sources of diaspora remittances to Kenya, although the two countries’ contributions are still a drop in the ocean compared to remittances from the United States of America (USA).
- In July alone, remittances from the USA totalled US$ 216.6 million compared to UK’s US$ 30.2 million and US$ 37.4 million from Saudi Arabia.
- According to Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) data from January to July this year, UK beat Saudi Arabia only in the first two months of the year.
- In July, the government said that there were 310, 266 Kenyans working in Saudi Arabia, accounting for the largest proportion of Kenyans in the Gulf.
The stream of Kenyans migrating to the Gulf in the last five years has significantly reshaped migration patterns and the resulting remittances. In 2019, for example, remittances from the United Kingdom totalled US$ 20.6 million compared to just US$ 3.3 million from Saudi Arabia. The shift is also indicative of the evolving migration laws that have made it harder for Kenyans to move to European countries, while Gulf countries have become a favourite destination due to their burgeoning labour needs.
Remittance inflows in July 2024 totalled USD414.3 million compared to USD 378.1 million in July 2023, an increase of 9.6 per cent. The cumulative inflows for the 12 months to July 2024 remained steady at USD 4,572 million compared to USD 4,076 million in a similar period in 2023, an increase of 12.2 per cent. “The remittances inflows continue to support the current account and foreign exchange market. The US remains the largest source of remittances to Kenya, accounting for 52 per cent in July 2024,” said CBK in its weekly bulletin of August 16,2024.
In 2022, Kenya and Saudi Arabia held the first Joint Commission for Cooperation (JCC) in Riyadh and outlined labour and consular affairs, ICT, transport, and development as the salient areas of cooperation. Among the major unresolved issues are claims of indentured servitude and the high number of deaths among Kenyans working the Gulf. In a presentation in July, Prime CS and CS for Foreign Affairs Musalia Mudavadi told the Senate that there had been 316 recorded deaths of Kenyans in the Gulf, more than half of them in Saudi Arabia.
