- She spoke at the launch of Kitisuru Amani Garden in Nairobi.
- Kenya has been toying with the idea of floating a diaspora bond since 2011.
Image: ISAIYA BWABI, CHAMS MEDIA
President William Ruto's government is working on a platform that will allow Kenyans working abroad to invest safely in the country without going through middlemen.
Speaking when she officially opened Kitisuru Amani Garden in Nairobi, PS, State Department for Diaspora Affairs Roseline Njogu said the platform is almost ready and will help limit diaspora remittances frauds.
"The Government remains committed to promoting diaspora investments back home by offering attractive investment opportunities, incentives and establishing financial instruments that facilitate diaspora investments,'' Njogu said.
She gave an example of DhowCSD, a new digital platform by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) that will enable the diaspora community to invest in government securities.
Works on the electronic over–the–counter (OTC) secondary market platform for government securities, funded by the World Bank Group, started around September 2020 and was expected to go live a year ago.
"It provides a new and easy way to invest in government securities and will, therefore, be beneficial to the diaspora. They don't need to come back to Kenya to make investments in the T-bills, T-bonds, among others,'' she said.
She added that the government is in talks with several financial institutions, who, through their diaspora banking, are looking at various diaspora-specific products for savings and investments.
A recent survey conducted by CBK indicates that a majority of the remittances sent back home are specifically intended for daily expenses indicating a gap in investments.
''However, if this event is any indication, it is clear that with more support and incentives, investing back home is indeed possible,'' she said.
She added that the platform will also help limit fraud, with the CBK report showing that diaspora investors lose a third of their cash due to misinformation, fraud, theft and corruption.
This is despite more than half of the money sent back home being allocated to three uses: real estate investment for the recipient, mortgage payment for the sender, and purchase of food and household goods.
According to the survey, most of them have lost billions due to investing through dubious relatives who don’t employ professionals in a bid to make money for themselves.
Diaspora remittances have since become Kenya’s top foreign exchange earner beating major exports such as coffee, tea, and horticulture.
Last year, Kenyans living and working abroad sent over Sh453.6 billion compared to Sh345.4 billion in 2021, Sh345.4 billion in 2020 and Sh314.7 billion in 2019.
The US remains the largest source of remittances into Kenya, accounting for 58.5 per cent of the inflows.
Kenya has been toying with the idea of floating a diaspora bond since 2011.
The PS hailed Jambo Diaspora Investment Group popularly referred to as JRN for bypassing fraudsters to set up a posh estate back home.
''While we celebrate, let us not forget the thousands of Kenyans in the Diaspora who have lost millions of shillings attempting to invest back home,'' Njogu said.
"As the Government, we are working on modalities that will ensure this unfortunate trend ends through frameworks and systems that will protect their investments."
She added that success serves as a symbol of what can be accomplished when individuals come together for a shared purpose.
Located in the leafy Nairobi suburb bordering Kiambu county, the 87 units Kitisuru Amani of two and three-bedroom apartments spread across three blocks are ready for sale, going for Sh12 million- Sh15 million respectively.
The investment group was founded in 2013 and officially started conducting business in May 2015 with 202 members drawn from across 25 states in America.
Led by JRN chairperson Phyllis Wambui alias Mumbunge, the group handled every construction operation without involving middlemen.
''We are proud of ourselves for being the first diaspora group to deliver such a mega project. We want to tell our fellow diasporans that we have our own trusted company for investing back home,'' Wambui said.
The group is now planning the second phase of the project which will consist of affordable housing units.