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The agreements, signed during the inaugural Kenya–Saudi Arabia Political Consultations Meeting, include a Labour Recruitment and Employment Agreement alongside three Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) covering direct investment, customs cooperation and development financing.
Mudavadi stressed that the government recognises the diaspora as an important development partner and is working to create opportunities that will enable Kenyans abroad to contribute more significantly to the country's economic growth
The latest performance echoes the trend seen in 2023 when remittance inflows during the review period fell by 1.8 percent. At the time, rising prices across major economies reduced the amount of disposable income available to migrant workers, limiting the money they could send to relatives back home.
Turning to his economic agenda, Kebaso described Borabu as one of the most agriculturally productive constituencies in the Kisii region, citing its fertile soils, favourable climate and relatively large land holdings. However, he argued that poor leadership and lack of value addition had denied farmers better returns
The survey places diaspora remittances among Kenya’s strongest foreign exchange earners, at times surpassing key traditional export sectors.ey
The Youth Enterprise Development Fund, she added, also invests in entrepreneurship training, startup support, business expansion, and development of commercial capacity, with financing offered through both group and individual loan models.
Traditionally, IEBC has relied on Kenyan missions abroad as polling stations, but long distances have made voting difficult for citizens in remote areas. Diaspora voting began under the 2010 Constitution in 2013 in four East African Community states: Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Burundi, with South Africa added in 2017. By the 2022 elections, it had expanded to the USA, Canada, the UK, Germany, the UAE, Qatar, and South Sudan.
This increase comes ahead of a major policy shift in the US, Kenya’s biggest remittance source, where a new law signed this month introduces a 3.5 percent excise tax on cross-border money transfers starting January 2026.