The government is creating mechanisms to protect Kenyans living abroad from falling prey to fraudsters and ensure their investments back home are secure.
Cases where Kenyans in the Diaspora are conned by relatives and associates through the purchase of non-existent property, particularly land and houses are commonplace.
Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua said the government is now creating a mechanism through the Central Bank that will enable the Kenyan Diaspora community to buy treasury bills and bonds as investments.
"Most of you have lost money to relatives. We want to create a proper mechanism and the government will ensure due diligence," he said.
Gachagua spoke while presiding over the closure of the Diaspora Investment Conference 2023, held at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre, Nairobi.
The three-day conference was attended by over 2,800 people from different countries, ambassadors and investment companies.
Gachagua said the Diaspora community is an important plug to Kenya's development and their remittances have been significant in stabilising the economy.
As such, the DP encouraged Kenyans abroad to enhance their savings, invite their relatives, friends and village mates abroad for job opportunities and continue investing back home.
He said in 2022, Diaspora remittances surpassed $4 billion (Sh615.2 billion) but the government's strategy is to double the figure in the next few years.
"Kenyans living abroad are precious jewellery to our administration; they make a valuable contribution to the economy since their remittances are Kenya’s biggest source of foreign exchange."
Gachagua said the government has instructed agencies such as the Financial Reporting Centre (FRC) and Asset Recovery Agency (ARA) to remove bureaucracies involved in the remittance of money by Diaspora workers.
"Avoid unnecessary bureaucracy. Bureaucracy creates corruption loopholes," he said.
The DP encouraged Kenyans living and working abroad to look for investors and market Kenyan products in their respective host countries in the spirit of supporting the government's Bottom Up Transformation Agenda.
He said the move will also help enlarge Kenya's revenue base.
"I have told the Kenya Tea Development Agency and New KPCU that our coffee, tea, macadamia and avocado fruits are the best in the world but are not available in the supermarkets because nobody has marketed them. I have asked them to engage diaspora people to market the products as a side hustle," he said.
Gachagua also urged Kenyans abroad to be good ambassadors by supporting Kenyan envoys in wooing investors to Kenya, a country he described as an anchor state with good democracy and working financial systems.
"I appeal to you to be our ambassadors too, promote our tourism sites. It is good to be patriotic. Also, get opportunities for your relatives and connect them to employers abroad," he said.
