Tanzanians in Kenya send home Sh24bn

“But Tanzania accounted for the largest share of money that immigrants sent back to Kenya, with some $118 million (Sh188.8bn) remitted by Kenyan nationals working in the country,” US-based PewResearch Centre.PHOTO|FILE 

In Summary

According to the 2009 Human Development Report launched last week by the UN, average remittances per person in Kenya were $42, $27 for Uganda, $5 for Rwanda and $0 for Tanzania, compared with $26 as the average for sub-Saharan Africa, which received a total of $16,815 million.

Dar es Salaam. Tanzanians living and working in Kenya sent back home Sh24 billion ($15 million) in remittances for the year 2012, it has emerged.

The amount was part of at least $613 million (Sh980.8bn) that immigrant workers in Kenya remitted to Tanzania and three other neighbouring countries namely Uganda, Sudan (including the South), and Ethiopia.

But Tanzania accounted for the largest share of money that immigrants sent back to Kenya, with some $118 million (Sh188.8bn) remitted by Kenyan nationals working in the country, according to US-based ‘fact tank’ PewResearch Centre in a report published last Thursday.

PewResearch showed that only UK ($488 million) and the US ($315 million) were ahead of Tanzania in remittances to Nairobi. Following UK, the US and Tanzania in sending money to Kenya were Canada ($87 million) and Uganda ($53 million). Kenya received at least $1.23 billion in total from other countries in 2012.

The ‘fact tank’ project used the World Bank’s remittance data to provide the regional analysis which captures the growing importance of regional market integration. Remittance is the money that migrants send back to families in their countries of origin.

Uganda received the largest share of outflows from Kenya amounting to about $530 million while Sudan and Ethiopia received an estimated $57 million and $11 million respectively. In total $614 million in remittances were sent from Kenya to other countries in 2012.

Other than the $118 million sent to Kenya from Tanzania, $53 million was received in Kenya from Uganda in reciprocal flows in 2012. Ethiopia accounted for $1 million sent to Kenya.

Kenya received the bulk of remittances in the region in 2007, amounting to $1,588 million, while Uganda got $849 million, and $51 and $14 million were sent to Rwanda and Tanzania respectively.

According to the 2009 Human Development Report launched last week by the UN, average remittances per person in Kenya were $42, $27 for Uganda, $5 for Rwanda and $0 for Tanzania, compared with $26 as the average for sub-Saharan Africa, which received a total of $16,815 million.

In the ‘Migration and Remittances Brief’ paper published April 2013, the World Bank said “positive prospects” for Nigeria, Kenya and top recipients in sub-Saharan Africa will significantly increase flows into the region.

The bank, however, warned that ‘lifting fees’ imposed by banks in SSA on incoming transfers recently was an “unwelcome development”. The fee is paid by recipients, in addition to other charges already paid by senders.

“For example, including the lifting fee, the total cost of a remittance of $200 to Kenya can be 16 per cent, twice as high as the average sending cost. The lifting fee is yet another example of the lack of transparency in pricing that pervades the remittance industry,” it said.