COOPERATIVE Bank of Kenya wants government support to mobilise Kenyans living in the diaspora to form more savings and credit cooperative societies to help channel more savings and investments.
Speaking during the inaugural diaspora investment conference that opened on Wednesday, Cooperative Bank managing director Gideon Muriuki said saccos would be crucial to help Kenyans abroad handle some of the most critical challenges they sometimes face such as health and safety emergencies.
"This forum is therefore quite timely and I would encourage all our ambassadors and high commissioners stationed across the world to aggressively rally Kenyans abroad to form saccos in their various regions," Muriuki said.
So far few saccos have been formed by Kenyans living abroad. They include: Kenya-USA Diaspora Sacco, Kenya-UK Sacco, the Kenya-Qatar Sacco headquartered in Doha and UAE Sacco whose base is in Dubai.
"Saccos can be a crucial link between Kenyan Embassies and diaspora; unlike private companies, Saccos have institutionalized our Kenyan behavior of working together," added Muriuki.
President Uhuru Kenyatta who was the chief guest at the opening of the conference assured Kenyans living abroad that the government was committed to meet their investment needs and expectations.
Money sent home by Kenyans living abroad rose 10.68 per cent last year to $1.43 billion (Sh132 billion), Central Bank data showed, setting a new annual record. As tourism revenues decline, diaspora remittances have been a key boost to foreign exchange earnings for the country. Data released Wednesday showed that diaspora remittances stood at Sh11.4 billion in February from Sh10.6 billion in January.
