- It has projected reinvestments of the diaspora settlements from five percent to 30 percent by 2030.
- The United States of America has remained the top contributor of inflows into Kenya.
Image: HANDOUT
A local venture capital firm Pangea Trust is set a forum to deepen discussions on how best to unlock and explore diaspora remittances.
The event to be held in October 2021, aims to bring together over 200 key partners from the African diaspora, investors, and financial institutions from Kenya, Ethiopia, and Somalia to provide criticism, suggestions, and counsel based on the report.
The virtual event comes at the back of a recently released diaspora remittances mapping study that shows a high appetite for investment opportunities in Africa by locals living abroad.
It revealed that the current investment decisions seem to be largely driven by the availability of information and more importantly, the level of knowledge on how to choose the most optimal investment options.
''Most of the current diaspora investments are nearly evenly split in investing in their businesses, family members’ businesses and investments in the money market with very few direct investments into other local businesses.,'' the report shows.
According to the report, the biggest obstacle to enabling investments for the diaspora is accessing appropriately packaged and credible information on available investment opportunities.
At least 23 per cent of the diaspora residents found this as a major hurdle during the investment process.
At the same time, the report states key drivers for growth in Islamic investments.
They include oil revenues for the Islamic states, increasing propensity for ethically driven products, the rise for enabling institutions, and growth for the Muslim population.
“We have organized this workshop with the support of SIDA seeking to make a stage for revolutionizing startup and SME funding,'' Pangea Trust MD Anne Lawi said.
The forum will also provide an opportunity for the key stakeholders to compare notes while sharing input on the pertinence of the Kenyan diaspora mapping.
Consequently, players from different sectors will highlight where the inflows from foreign countries are situated, the number of remittances sent by the Kenyan Diaspora, and how these remittances are utilized within the country.
They will also provide criticism on the relevance of the report to Pangea Trust's vision of expanding reinvestments of the diaspora settlements from five percent to 30 percent by 2030.
The event comes at a time when the Central Bank Of Kenya Governor Patrick Njoroge, during the Post Monetary Policy Committee meeting, projected that inflows into Kenya in 2021 could rise to $3.4 billion in 2021 as compared to $3.09 billion recorded in 2020.
The United States of America has remained the top contributor of inflows into Kenya.
Cash inflows from abroad have remained Kenya’s largest source of foreign exchange since 2015 and also provide a livelihood to low-income households in the country.