Nairobi — There is currently a lot of national interest in the role of the Diaspora in Kenya's development. According to United States census reports for the year 2000, there were 40,680 Kenyan immigrants.

This number is unrealistically low because it is based on sample data that only capture first generation Kenyan immigrants. Nevertheless, this census information contains an interesting profile of Kenyans in the US and has important implications for our country's development.

Kenyans make more money than many other African immigrant groups and Americans. In 2000, Kenyans had a per capita (personal) income of $28,000 (or nearly Sh2 million at current exchange rates). This income was higher than that of all other black African immigrants such as Nigerians ($27,000), Ghanaians ($23,000), Egyptians ($33,000), and South Africans ($42,000), who are mostly white.

Moreover, since the per capita income for the general US population was $21,587, the average Kenyan immigrant earned nearly $6,000 more than the average American.

IT IS NOTEWORTHY THAT KENYAN men made nearly $10,000 more than the women in 2000. Although Kenyans generally make far more money than their brethren back home, they also spend more because the cost of living in the US is very high.

Most of the Kenyans in the US are well educated and have very good English language skills. In 2000, nearly 52 per cent had a Bachelor's degree or higher compared to 28 per cent for the general US population.

And of the Kenyans with an undergraduate or higher degree, 23 per cent had a Master's or professional degree.

Although the US has tightened its immigration laws since the September 2001 terrorist attacks, the silver lining of this is that the new laws have made it harder for non-immigrant Kenyans to drop out of school. As a result, many more Kenyans are graduating at even more impressive rates.

The 2010 US census is likely to show a significant increase in the number of Kenyans in the US with undergraduate degrees or higher. Kenya has since the 1993-94 academic year led other African countries in the number of students in American colleges and universities.

In 2000, the Kenyans had a combined income of over $1 billion (Sh79) billion at current exchange rates. If you add those who were not counted by the census and the thousands who live in Canada, Europe, other African countries, the Middle East, Australia, and New Zealand, the substantial economic power of the global Kenyan Diaspora becomes clear.

This is why the Diaspora has been able to remit to Kenya more than Sh50 billion annually in the last few years. If this income were productively invested, it could go a long way towards transforming Kenya into a real "African Lion".

Unfortunately, much of the money sent back home is often put to unproductive uses such as buying food, consumer goods, and repaying family debts.

The Government can do more to help convert more of our Diaspora remittances into productive investments by delivering basic services such as health care. One also hopes that government officials will not seize on the beneficial economic impact of the Diaspora's remittances to fleece the country through scams like Goldenberg and Anglo Leasing.

The Government must also realise that remittances are neither a reliable nor long term source of foreign exchange. Kenya should use the current windfall to foster economic growth. Kenyans in the Diaspora should also help fellow Kenyans to keep the Government honest.

In the 1980s and 1990s, for example, Diaspora remittances helped the Kanu regime to maintain reasonable foreign currency reserves that not only helped it defy local and international pressure for reform, but also helped it stay in power longer than would have been possible.

EVIDENCE FROM OTHER PARTS OF the world shows that immigrant investments in assets like land, can inflate its cost and make it unaffordable to those who really need it for survival. Remittances from the Diaspora can also worsen regional and local income inequalities and contribute to problems like crime.

Areas with many people in the Diaspora can also develop a "migration culture" that makes those left behind to prefer migration over local economic opportunities.

Without awareness of the negative effects of such remittances, the Government will not be able to develop measures to minimise them. On its part, the Diaspora should try and minimise investments that hurt rather than help local communities

--Dr Otiso is an associate professor at Bowling Green State University, US