The Kenya Diaspora Alliance (KDA) has welcomed the move by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK)  to introduce an online bond trading platform. 

In a statement, the lobby's chair Shem Ochuodho said the online trading platform will enable Kenyans who have lost billions of their hard-earned money to participate in building the country's economy while keeping off frauds. 

"Now investors can almost adopt do-it-yourself bond trading as they can open accounts, and place their bids for their preferred securities during auctions, from their mobile phones or computers,'' he said.

he added that the platform will not only promote transparency but also support the growth of the bonds investment segment which has gained popularity, especially among retail investors.

"With our understanding of the remittances being made by Africans to their home countries, we believe that the right channeling of these funds would lead to great economic growth,'' the lobby said. 

The association has set a target to work with the government and corporates to double the remittances to $ 5-6 billion and increase the percentage going into investments and hard savings from the current 25 to 30 per cent by 2030.

The CBK's central securities depository, known as the CBK DhowCSD, started onboarding new investors last Monday.

The platform, which has been in the works for three years, allows investors to open bond trading accounts at the CBK online, from where they will be placing their bids for their preferred securities during auctions.

Its launch comes at a time government securities are giving double-digit returns compared to other asset classes such as equities, which are posting negative returns.

Diaspora remittances have since become Kenya’s top foreign exchange earner beating major exports such as coffee, tea, and horticulture.

Last year, Kenyans living and working abroad sent over Sh453.6 billion compared to Sh345.4 billion in 2021, Sh345.4 billion in 2020 and Sh314.7 billion in 2019. 

The US remains the largest source of remittances into Kenya, accounting for 58.5 per cent of the inflows.

Kenya has been toying with the idea of floating a diaspora bond since 2011.