Why the Diaspora holds the keys to the Nation’s Future
The economic history of Sub-Saharan Africa often recalls the damage caused by the Washington Consensus, a term coined by John Williamson in 1989. To many, it marked the beginning of a “lost quarter century,” a period of regression in multiple dimensions. Policies crafted from theoretical frameworks, detached from the African context, were imposed with the promise of prosperity but instead delivered widespread disillusionment. As Thomas Sowell has argued, the danger of economic theories lies in the delayed recognition of their failures: the results surface years later in the form of deepened poverty, rising unemployment, and other social ills.
In this article, I contend that anyone seeking to articulate solutions for Africa must prioritize what Marcus Garvey called the “lived experience.” For today’s debates on diaspora affairs, this principle is equally important. The lives of Kenyans abroad must not be theorized in abstraction; instead, they must reflect the input and perspectives of those who have lived the reality. Africa’s experience with the Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs) of the 1990s is a lasting reminder of the dangers of excluding key stakeholders from the decision-making table.
The numbers are rising day after day, and nowhere is this more visible than in the financial columns where the diaspora’s impact is felt with unprecedented weight. According to the Central Bank of Kenya, Kenyans in Australia remitted $56 million in the first quarter of 2025—a staggering 71.1% increase from the same period in 2024. This makes Australia the fastest- growing source of remittances, even as global inflows to Kenya rose by just 2.2% to $1.23 billion. Clearly, remittances are fueling the Kenyan economy in ways that can no longer be ignored. My friend captured this reality in his paper, The Impact of Remittances on Kenya’s Housing Market. Yet beyond the impressive charts and academic debates lies a more human truth: these billions represent thousands of Kenyans abroad whose needs and interests are often overlooked, or at best, only halfway addressed.
How do we then address this question?
1. Bringing all stakeholders together
When the Kenya Kwanza government announced the establishment of the State Department for Diaspora Affairs, it marked a new chapter in Kenya’s recognition of its citizens abroad. The leadership shown by PS Roseline Njogu has been commendable, and many in the diaspora have followed her announcements with optimism.
Yet, there remains a crucial gap. Too often, policies are developed and communicated without the meaningful involvement of the very people they are meant to serve. For Kenyans abroad, this means receiving updates on new policies but rarely being invited into the process of shaping them.
Addressing the diaspora question therefore requires more than logistical planning and diplomatic outreach. It requires structured, consistent consultations with Kenyans who have lived for long periods in their host countries, people who understand the social, economic, and policy landscapes firsthand. While diplomats and scholars play an important role, excluding everyday diaspora voices risks overlooking critical insights, such as identifying gaps in local markets or highlighting practical barriers that policies may ignore. To truly harness all stakeholders, Kenya must institutionalize diaspora participation through advisory councils, regional forums, or consultative platforms that ensure the people most affected by policy havea seat at the table. Only then will the Department of Diaspora Affairs move from symbolic recognition to genuine partnership.
2. Bilateral Relations Targeting Scholarships: Making Education Accessible
A point of honesty is necessary when discussing education and migration. The debate on brain drain has been explored extensively by development economists. While this article does not allow for a full discussion, for those seeking deeper research, Yaw Nyarko’s Mobility, Human Capital, Remittances, and Economic Transformation challenges the notion that Africa is experiencing a net brain drain.
In reality, many Africans pursue education abroad, and educational pathways remain one of the most effective routes for personal and national development. “Best” should not be equated with “cheap.” While host nations may benefit economically from international students, African stakeholders, particularly migration agents, have long advocated for increased scholarships. This raises the question: why cannot African diaspora teams negotiate meaningful scholarship opportunities for their home countries?
There is a pressing need to establish synergy between universities and embassies to secure scholarships that prioritize students from African nations. The future of education-driven migration remains promising, especially within OECD countries. Kenya must seize this opportunity to ensure subsidized education pathways abroad are accessible, sustainable, and equitable. The recent visit by PS TVET Esther Muoria signifies a serious step toward harmonizing stakeholders and formalizing collaborative efforts.
3. The Rhetoric Versus Reality of Diaspora Engagement
Let us be honest: the rhetoric that the diaspora should remain absent from political affairs, despite their significant contributions, is both pretentious and unsustainable. The diaspora community, though citizens with full constitutional rights, has been systematically sidelined in the nation-building process. Take the Kenyan community in Australia as a case in point. In 2024 alone, Kenyans in Australia contributed approximately $180 million to the Kenyan economy, yet their engagement with the home country remains minimal and largely symbolic.
Kenya and Australia are celebrating 60 years of bilateral cooperation this year. It has also been 15 years since the promulgation of Kenya’s new constitution and three general elections have been conducted under its framework. Despite these milestones, there has been no sincere effort to recognize Kenyans in Australia as a legitimate voting bloc. The Constitution guarantees democratic and political rights, yet in practice these rights remain elusive for many abroad. To encourage Kenyans in Australia to send remittances while simultaneously discouraging or ignoring their participation in national discourse is an untenable contradiction.
This raises several pressing questions: When was the last meaningful engagement between the Kenyan government and its citizens in Australia? What became of the memorandum submitted by Kenyans in Australia to Parliament? Why have most official visits remained passive, ceremonial, and without substantive follow-up? The dissatisfaction is no longer hidden; it is clear, notable, and increasingly frustrating.
Expecting the diaspora to invest in ambitious projects such as affordable housing, without first addressing these underlying concerns, is little more than a pipe dream. What is urgently required is sincerity. Stakeholders must move beyond treating the diaspora as a source of funds and instead incorporate them as partners in governance and development. Genuine engagement means creating spaces where diaspora concerns can be raised, documented, and acted upon with accountability.
In my own early experiences engaging with community leaders in Australia — many of whom had already served for over 15 years — I was struck by a disheartening realization: the very same issues I intended to raise had been tabled a decade earlier, with little progress. To continue proclaiming that “the diaspora is at the heart of government operations” while failing to address their long-standing grievances is not only pretentious but corrosive to trust. Those attempting to bridge the gap know too well how often their voices go unheard, and how long these struggles have endured.
4. The Need for Realism
Often, successive regimes have proposed initiatives assuming that Kenyans living abroad are disconnected from the trust deficit that persists between the government and the public. Serious attempts, including bills in Parliament, have been made to establish funds for the diaspora community. However, these efforts often seem utopian, as many Kenyans expected to participate have themselves been affected by mismanagement or betrayal, even within their families, let alone by a government struggling with corruption.
This is not to suggest that these initiatives are doomed, but rather that participation requires significant trust-building. Kenyans living abroad will need clear, compelling incentives and robust mechanisms to engage in programs such as affordable housing. Without transparent communication of developmental goals and consumer protection measures, the potential benefits of these initiatives are overshadowed by widespread reports of mismanagement and lost funds. While these programs could provide solutions for Kenyans who have experienced financial setbacks, gaining traction will require careful planning, realistic expectations, and consistent accountability.
5. From consumers to creators
Among so many countries, Kenya being one of them, the discourse of shifting towards becoming creators rather than consumers has gained traction. In one of my articles I articulated that the Kenyan community in Australia must look towards maximising the potential of the economic gains of Australia. One does not need to read MJ DeMarco’s masterpiece The Millionaire Fastlane to understand that the best way to thrive in a capitalist cosmos is through the establishment of businesses.
The diaspora community in Australia has taken significant steps over the last few years as we have seen more and more Kenyan businesses cropping up. As recent as this week, at the time of writing, a new venture has opened. On this front, we are seeing—though still at a low scale—the potential to migrate from SMEs within the community to medium-sized enterprises.
Kenya, like so many other Sub-Saharan African countries, missed out on the computer and dot-com moment, missed again on the social media wave, and today leads in the consumer index of various forms of AI. I find the diaspora community, given the resources available, best placed to help make the most out of this AI shift.
How can Kenya lead in the race, or at least be part of the race, towards AI? It is common knowledge that the next unicorns will be born from AI, and this time Kenya must be at the front. We must change, for we have no better option. Our diaspora experience, if treated with the seriousness that other countries apply to theirs, can help us achieve this. All stakeholders couldbe brought together: the diaspora community, the embassy, and other partners, to rethink how best to take advantage of AI, study the trends, and ensure our beloved continent is not left behind again.
The discourse surrounding the diaspora community has often been framed primarily in financial terms, yet behind these figures are individual Kenyans whose labor, dedication, and sacrifices underpin these remittances. When reporting quarterly inflows, the numbers—such as the $180 million contributed by Kenyans in Australia last year—represent more than mere statistics; they embody the efforts of individuals working 9-to-5 jobs, managing businesses, navigating cultural transitions, and enduring personal challenges.
The next phase of engagement must extend beyond acknowledging these economic contributions to maximizing their developmental impact while simultaneously addressing the lived realities of the diaspora. Achieving this may require increased funding for embassies, enhanced personnel at consular offices, and the establishment of more structured consultative mechanisms. The figure of $180 million is substantial, yet without meaningful engagement, the potential for these contributions to catalyse sustainable development remains underutilized.
In the realm of education, collaboration with migration agents offers an instructive model. Migration to OECD countries for educational purposes has surged, creating pathways not only for personal advancement but also for broader economic participation. The diaspora represents a latent pool of future entrepreneurs and venture capitalists, whose experiences and resources could fuel the next generation of startups beyond the current remittance figures. Recognizing this potential must include extending political agency, exemplified in calls for voting rights, to ensure diaspora voices are meaningfully integrated into national decision-making processes.
As Nsiah and Fayissa (Oxford Handbook of Africa and Economics chap.39) argue, “Given their immense contributions via remittances, it is justified that members of the diaspora have the right to participate in the electoral process, making voting by Africans in the diaspora an important issue. Allowing migrants to feel part of the decision-making process at home may result in a reduced decline in remittances, regardless of the motives to remit.” This perspective underscores the interdependence of economic contribution and civic inclusion, emphasizing that any strategy seeking to leverage the diaspora must address both financial and participatory dimensions.