Banking on the Diaspora: Kenya defends its approach to labour mobility, vows to streamline the programme

By Steve UMIDHA

Kenya has defended its approach to labour mobility as essential for economic growth, hailing the programme, which is a systematic approach that tracks where Kenyans are going, as one of the many tactics it is using to fix harrowing tales of exploitation by employers in host countries, faced by its migrating citizens.

As a result, the State Department for Labour, which is domiciled in the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, has vowed to streamline the programme as it seeks to ward off unsupervised recruitment routes used by dodgy individuals to swindle unsuspecting Kenyans.

The move is expected to go a long way in reducing and ostensibly thwarting scams and fraud in the volatile labour market, a renewed push to improve the labor market’s efficiency and protect Kenyans from crooks.

“We are going to do this only via supervised government mechanisms. We are pushing for labour mobility, not labour migration, what we call circular migration…,” offered Shadrack Mwadime, the Principal Secretary (PS) in that ministry.

Adding that, such streamlining strategies will be established under stringent bilateral agreements with countries of origin under the strict command of bodies like the International Labor Organisation (ILO).

Circular migration 

An online definition of circular migration defines the concept as a recurring movement of a person or people between their country of birth and a destination, typically for work or economic opportunity, before eventually returning to their country of origin.

Unlike one-time or permanent moves, circular migration involves a cyclical pattern of migration—leaving, working, and returning—with the potential to repeat the journey multiple times, at least 3 times in 10 years.

According to Mwadime, the concept includes repetition of migration by the same individual and a minimum duration of stay in each country to distinguish it from short visits.

“We are pushing for short contracts like three to five years for our young Kenyans seeking opportunities abroad,” he said, during a media roundtable in Nairobi, organised by the ILO.

Acknowledging that such an effort might need an all-hands-on-deck rallying in the form of a multi-stakeholder slant in the labor migration value chain, Mwadime noted that the administration was racing against time to harmonise the existing labour migration policies, including the Kenya diaspora ‘labor’ policy, if the aforesaid maneuvers are to be realised.”

“Within a very short period of time, we should be able to release a policy on labor mobility which will look into how we can help our brothers and sisters abroad to, for instance, safeguard their investments here at home using vehicles like diaspora bond.”

Indeed, Kenya is among the many African countries, including Ethiopia and Nigeria, actively implementing migration policies and is using diaspora bonds, for instance, as a viable investment vehicle to bridge its development financing.

Kenya is close to having a dedicated or a single comprehensive ‘migration policy’, whose existence, experts say, would help address some of the glaring confusions in the sector.

Through the Labour Migration Management Bill 2024, currently in the consideration phase at the National Parliament, Kenya could edge its global peers as having one of the sturdiest labor laws in the world, after recently launching its Global Compact for Migration (GCM) Implementation Plan 2023-2027 to improve migration management.

The East African Community (EAC) dynamo has also since published its Diaspora Policy 2024 to support Kenyans abroad.

“Through this policy, the Kenyan government has a goal of protecting, engaging, empowering, and prospering the Kenyan diaspora.

The goal is emphasized in the policy statements therein, centering on: diaspora rights, welfare, and interests; diaspora savings, investments, remittances, and technology transfer; diaspora partnerships and engagement; and international job placements for Kenyans,” notes Musalia Mudavadi, the Prime Cabinet Secretary and the Minister for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs in the policy statement.

Additionally, Kenya has operationalized the Refugee Act 2021 and introduced the Labour Migration Management Act 2024, all contributing to a broader framework for migration governance.

“The labour market in Kenya is dominated by informal employment, which accounts for roughly 81% of non-agricultural jobs, reflecting limited formal sector opportunities.

This high informality, combined with economic pressures and environmental vulnerabilities, such as climate change impacts on agriculture and tourism, pushes many Kenyans to seek alternative income sources through migration,” notes Aida Awel, the Chief Technical Advisor, Better Regional Migration Management Programme for ILO.

Diaspora Bonds: A game–changer?

But it is the deliberate introduction of its highly anticipated diaspora bonds drive that promises to be a game-changer for Kenyans in the diaspora and the government alike, with the latter expected to use the move to tap into the financial resources of its citizens living abroad, primarily to support projects like the contentious affordable housing and infrastructure development.

Diaspora bonds are a clever idea that has rarely worked in practice, with Israel being the only country that has bucked this trend. It is something that has encouraged countries like Kenya to consider what’s conceivable in managing their crisis financing.

Diaspora bonds are essentially debt instruments that seek to raise financing from countries’ diaspora communities.

In theory, according to a report by Reuters published in December 2024, these instruments should enable countries to access financing when traditional sources of capital are drying up, and, “importantly, to do so at below-market rates. This is based on the assumption that members of the diaspora will lend in part out of a desire to help their homeland, not because they’re trying to earn the highest possible yield.”

Unfortunately, this model hasn’t held up well in the real world, according to Reuters reporting, which noted that many governments that have attempted to draw on the munificence of their diasporas, including Nigeria, Ukraine, Greece, India, Pakistan, Ethiopia, and Egypt, have had such attempts either fail to get off the ground or have been short-lived.

Aida Awel says such funds would help the diaspora people by investing back in their countries of origin, who would then benefit by gaining attractive investment opportunities, and as a direct way to support their country’s infrastructure and social programs.

Bonds often offer competitive interest rates and may provide tax benefits, fulfilling a patriotic desire to contribute to the homeland while diversifying one’s own financial portfolio.

“While these challenges are deeply concerning, they also underscore the magnitude of migration’s impact on Kenyan society. Labour migration contributes significantly to the national economy, with diaspora remittances reaching $4.95 billion in 2024, an 18% increase from the previous year, exceeding revenues from tourism and agricultural exports,” she noted.

These remittances support household incomes, fund education, and stimulate local economies, highlighting the dual nature of migration: as both an opportunity and a risk that demands effective governance, oversight, and public awareness.

Useful data

According to the ILO data, the East and Horn of Africa (EHoA) holds the second largest share of Africa’s population after Western Africa. As of 2025, Eastern Africa’s population is estimated at approximately 513 million people, making it the most populous subregion in Africa by a significant margin.

Eastern Africa accounts for about 6.24% of the world’s population, with a youthful median age of 18.3 years and a high fertility rate of 3.96 children per woman, factors that drive rapid population growth in the region.

The region’s migration corridors, such as the Eastern Route toward Yemen and the Arabian Peninsula, the Southern Route toward South Africa, and the Northern Route toward North Africa, have seen fluctuating but overall high volumes of movement. For example, in 2024, about 446,000 movements were tracked along the Eastern Route alone, with children constituting around 10 per cent of migrants.

According to the World Migration Report 2024, the global international migrants was 281 million in 2023, representing 3.6% of the world population, with 169 million being migrant workers across the world.

International migration mainly flows from developing countries to large economies, where America, Europe, and the Asia continent received the highest number of migrant workers of 102.4 million, while Africa received 10% of the total international migrants in 2023. In 2023, around 21 million Africans were living in another African country, a significant increase from 18 million Africans in 2015.

The number of Africans living in different regions also grew during the same period, from around 17 million in 2015 to over 19.5 million in 2023.  Migratory patterns are influenced by globalization, geopolitical dynamics, and the domestic environment of the country, among other drivers.