Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi has said Kenyans in the diaspora wield significant financial and intellectual resources that should be harnessed to support the country’s socio-economic development.
Mudavadi, who is also the Foreign and Diaspora Affairs Cabinet Secretary, said mainstreaming diaspora resources and business networks is a key priority under the Government’s Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA).
He said the Government will engage the diaspora more constructively and productively to unlock and unleash their full potential.
“Putting our minds together to agree on how to harness their full potential is a testimony of the importance of this community in the broader narrative of Kenya's development,” said Mudavadi.
Mudavadi made the remarks during the diaspora investment conference held at the Kenya International Convention Centre (KICC) on Wednesday.
Mudavadi noted that Kenyans in the diaspora send home over US$300 million monthly to support their investments and their families, which he described as fairly stable, despite challenges the global economy has experienced in recent years.
He said these remittances constitute a major source of foreign exchange, equivalent to 3 per cent of Kenya’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and are an important source of financing the country’s current account deficit, supporting the balance of payments and enhancing the stability of the Kenya Shilling.
Mudavadi assured that the Government is determined to employ a structured approach to diaspora engagements where they engage, enable and empower.
Similarly, he said the Government is making a conscious effort to relate diaspora policies to diaspora rights by providing incentives such as dual citizenship, consular support, voting rights, property rights, transferability of social benefits, reduced transactional costs and simplification of bureaucratic processes.
Mudavadi said the diaspora investment conference offered a platform to look at diaspora-friendly investment that Kenyans abroad can leverage on to a build sustainable future.
He added that the meeting serves as a critical platform for networking, offering an opportunity to forge partnerships that extend beyond borders.
He said that it also enables them to explore avenues for financial support to foster collaborations with leading financial institutions that can be instrumental in propelling the collective vision forward.
Over the last 12 months, Mudavadi said the Ministry has made great strides in discharging various aspects of its mandate, key among them the promotion of continuous dialogue through physical and virtual engagement meetings with various stakeholders abroad.
He also said the Ministry has rallied diaspora participation in investment back home and facilitated policy and legislative processes.