South-South Migration: The Impact of Diaspora Remittance on National Development of Kenya

There is a growing recognition of the south to south migration in developing countries, shaping the relationship between diaspora remittance and national development. It is for this reason that the study was justified on the basis that many studies on remittance are derived from the Global north than the Global south. The purpose of this study was to find the relationship between diaspora remittances to Kenya’s national development focusing on the Global south. The study was guided by three research questions: Is the global south changing remittance trends (volumes and sources) in Kenya? Which are the most preferred Global South remittances channels to Kenya? What is the relationship between global south remittances and national development of Kenya? Data was sourced from the World Bank's African Development Indicators, Central Bank of Kenya and International Monetary Fund for the period 2005-2016. The data was analyzed descriptive to produce percentages and inferential statistics such as correlation and bivariate regression. The study concludes that there are significant remittance trends (volumes and sources) from the Global South to Kenya. The study established an increase in Diaspora remittances will positively increase GDP, stabilizing exchange rates, equity turnover, bond turnover, secondary school enrollment, consumer spending, gross savings and consumer price index. The increase in the Global south remittances reduces government spending, hence able to focus on development projects rather than current expenditures. This study recommends due to the positive impact of global south remittances on national development, and government should attract Foreign Direct Investment through enabling business friendly environment and Central Bank of Kenya ensures better laws to boost the confidence of the remitters in the global south. Also, since mobile money has the least transaction costs, Kenya needs to motivate mobile money operators to venture in the south to south countries to ease remitter’s transaction costs.