Evaluation of Kenya Diaspora Policies in Promoting Trade, Investment and Development

Abstract

The progressive development in the global market has made it easier for people to increasingly move from one country to another in search of greener pasture. This has increased the transfer of skills, generation of revenue and spurred economic development in both the sending and receiving states. Governments that have benefited from Diasporas across the globe have shifted towards integrating migration policies in their development agenda. In particular, the role remittances play to countries of origin have played has greatly informed the change in mindset of developing countries. Africa is an example of how labour migration can play a positive role in the national development agenda. Most Africans who have had the opportunity to work in developed countries send a substantial amount of money to their home countries. Their remittances play a great role in poverty reduction other than the promotion of transfer of skills to their counterparts in Kenya. The legislative institutional and policy frameworks are not developing as fast as the dynamics arising from diaspora investment are changing. For example, Kenya has a large diaspora population that would like to take part in its investment and development however this has noted been matched by a proactive development in the legal, institutional and policy frameworks regulating diaspora investment. The researcher intends to contribute to the discussion of how the regime regulating diaspora investment can be made more efficient and progressive. This will ensure Diasporas can contribute to development in the country through investment as opposed to overreliance on remittances. Further, the researcher will conduct an analysis of Kenya’s Diaspora policy and legal framework. The main objective of this research will be to analyze the efficiency of the current statutory regime regulating diaspora investment.