Kenyans living and working abroad sent home $1.23 billion (Sh159.5 billion) during the first three months of this year, marking a slower growth rate of 2.2 percent compared to the pace recorded during a similar period last year when the inflows jumped 18.8 percent to $1.21 billion (Sh156.9 billion).
The slowed growth coincided with the assumption of office of US President Donald Trump who came in with a raft of radical anti-immigrant policies, completely laden with threats of mass deportation.
The US accounts for the largest portion of diaspora remittances into Kenya, with its contribution standing at 53 percent as of last month.
Data from the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) shows that Kenyans abroad sent home $427.4 million (Sh55.4 billion) in January, followed by $422.9 million (54.8 billion) and $382.2 million (Sh49.6 billion) in March and February respectively.
The combined amount wired back to Kenya between January and March this year translates to a $26.4 million (Sh3.4 billion) increase from the value of cash sent home during a similar period last year but marks a reduction from the $190.5 million (Sh24.7 billion) year-on-year addition recorded during last year’s quarter one.
The contribution of the US to the remittances pool has also dwindled this year from the 56 percent stake it held in March last year.
Since his inauguration into the White House on January 20 this year, President Trump has made decrees that have sent shockwaves across global economies, with the brevity of implementation timelines only working to compound matters.
Among the most far-reaching include withdrawal from the Paris Accord on climate change, the World Health Organisation, a squeeze on funding for refugees, and the latest imposition of reciprocal tariffs on exports into the US.
Before these sweeping changes, remittances into Kenya had been on a sustained growth trajectory, benefitting from an easing of inflationary pressures in developed economies, as well as cooling off of the Russia-Ukraine conflict that had disrupted global supply chains and pushed global inflation to decades-high levels.
Since 2015, remittances from abroad have remained the largest source of foreign cash flows into Kenya ahead of tourism, foreign direct investment (FDI), and the export of agricultural products such as tea and coffee.
