How diaspora property investors have changed tack in remittances

Kenya receives Sh931.8 billion in remittances annually. [File, Standard]

From a bird’s-eye view, the relationship between diaspora remittances and the country’s real estate sector is direct. A relative receives money from the diaspora, and a building is erected back home.

But a new report shows this relationship is complex, nuanced in ways beyond cause and effect, and that one look at the numbers will not tell you the whole story. While the report shows that investment in real estate is the least of the top 10 uses of diaspora remittances to the country, it also details that persons employed in the sector are the second leading individuals who receive the inflows. The first are those in the financial and insurance sectors.