Most of the cash sent home by Kenyans living abroad goes toward supporting family members, relatives or friends at 86 per cent, a survey has said.
The majority of the respondents sent remittances to support recipients in the purchase of food and household goods, for offsetting medical expenses and meeting education expenses.
Other purposes include payment of rent and household utilities, payment for the costs associated with ceremonies; clothing and farming needs.
Slightly over half of the cash remittances were allocated to three uses: investment in real estate (land and building), mortgage and purchase of food and household goods.
The Kenya Diaspora Remittances Survey released by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) Thursday shows 63 per cent of recipients are self-employed, retired, unemployed individuals, looking for work and students.
"A paltry five per cent of respondents sent remittances to their spouses. This supports the findings that the majority of respondents were married, hence living abroad with their families," the CBK report reads in part.
According to the survey, those living abroad send money to their mothers at 20 per cent, sisters at 15 per cent, brothers at 14 per cent and fathers at 11 per cent.
Overall, the average value of remittances sent in 2019 was $6,000.
At least 71 per cent of the respondents sent annual remittances of up to $15,000 in 2019. Of these, 21 per cent sent remittances less than $2000 while 48 per cent sent amounts less than $6,000, an average of $500 per month.
The amount remitted is compared with the length of stay abroad by the respondents.
According to the survey, remittances generally decline with the number of years spent abroad by the respondent suggesting an increasing disconnect with the source country, the more one lives abroad.
For instance, about 49 per cent of the respondents who remitted cash amounts up to $1,999 had lived outside the country for 10 years or less while those who had lived abroad for more than 30 years accounted for only five per cent of this category.
The motive behind migration from Kenya could have some influence on remittances.
In this regard, respondents working in Kenyan missions abroad and those who migrated from Kenya in search of employment were found to have remitted above average amounts.
Respondents who migrated for reasons of employment invested more in real estate while those working in international organizations spent more on mortgage payments
The Survey was conducted from March to May 2021, aimed at collecting valuable information on inflows to Kenya, with the objective of boosting the role of remittances in supporting the economy and livelihoods.
Land and building stood out as the main investments for those sending money back home. e inflows to Kenya, with the objective of boosting the role of remit
Safaricom's M-Pesa is the most preferred service provider, selected by 20 per cent of the respondents, followed by banks, WorldRemit, Wave, Send wave, and Western Union.
Respondents cited convenience, promptness, efficiency, speedy service, ease of access and favourable transaction charges as the main reasons for using these service providers.
Remittance inflows to Kenya have increased tremendously in recent years, with total remittances in 2021 reaching a record $3.7 billion. This surpassed the previous record of $3.1 billion set in 2020.
These amounts are equivalent to approximately per cent of Kenya’s GDP.
However, only inflows through formal channels—, through authorized international remittance service providers in Kenya or commercial banks—are included in the reported inflows, which exclude remittances through informal channels and in-kind remittances.
The Survey targeted Kenyans living abroad who had sent remittances in 2019.