How Kenyans in diaspora can protect their wealth

Whenever there are major discussions about cross-border succession, the connotation has been that it is more of a rich people's problem, and particularly the ultra-wealthy.

While this is primarily the case, this conversation is gradually becoming a roundtable for everyone, the reason being the growing population of Kenyans working in the diaspora.

In the last three years, there has been an aggressive push by the government to send more Kenyans abroad for work. Kenya has become party to several agreements on labour migration, the latest being Italy, signed last Thursday.

In this period, almost 540,000 have travelled, as revealed by President William Ruto in May during a diaspora forum held at State House. The majority of these individuals are first-generation migrants.

 The direct effect of this great migration is already being witnessed in the local economy. Remittances from the diaspora have grown from Sh413.3 billion in 2021 to Sh661.2 billion in 2025, according to the 2026 Economic Survey Report by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS).

A recent report, the 2025 Remittances Household Survey Report, also co-authored by KNBS, the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) and the Financial Sector Deepening (FSD) Kenya, shows this amount is higher, at Sh848 billion, for cash remittances.

When both cash and in-kind remittances are considered, the amount stands at Sh931.8 billion. This growth is attributed to the remittances that do not pass through the formal channels, such as hundis, friends and relatives, who deliver items in person to households.

The growth in remittances back home denotes wealth creation by the ordinary Kenyans residing abroad.

And considering financial systems of wealth and asset accumulation are more advanced in those markets, experts are now expressing the need for such Kenyans to consider financial advisors in cross-border succession and wealth management.

For example, what happens to that apartment you acquired or your relative purchased in the United States, or somewhere in Europe, during their working years, when they pass on? What if you or they had opened a small business abroad?

Countries like the US allow individuals with tax residency, such as green card holders, to participate in the famous 401(k) savings retirement plan. How would such be repatriated back home?

Brian Otieno, Senior Tax Associate, Tarra Agility Africa, says such issues extend beyond the ultra-wealthy.

 “These issues affect any Kenyan family with an international dimension, and not just the very wealthy,” he says. “A nurse working in the United Kingdom who has bought a flat there, a teacher in Nairobi whose child is a British citizen, or a businessman with a joint account in Dubai, will all have a cross-border succession problem.”

Otieno says the Kenyan Law of Succession Act recognises that a person can be subject to different legal regimes depending on their religion and customary background.

It also makes provision for sealing of grants made in Commonwealth countries and the Gazetted countries.

Likewise, other foreign jurisdictions may not recognise a Kenyan will, and an ordinary Kenyan family can easily find itself caught between three or four different legal systems at once.

 “We should not assume the cross-border issues are someone else's problem. Any member of a family that lives, works or owns property outside Kenya should review their succession arrangements early,” he says.

These are some of the issues that made the discussion at the Nairobi Private Wealth Conference 2026, convened by Tarra Agility Africa, in partnership with Standard Chartered.

The event held at the end of June brought together affluent individuals, entrepreneurs, family business leaders, and wealth advisers to explore how Africa's growing wealth can be preserved, governed, and transferred across generations, amid an increasingly global investment landscape.

Edith Chumba, Head of Wealth & Retail Banking, Kenya and East Africa, Standard Chartered, said that for many years, the focus of  wealth management was largely on accumulation.

Today, however, the conversation has evolved.

“Successful individuals and families are now thinking beyond wealth creation to wealth continuity. They are asking how wealth can be preserved, how it can be transferred responsibly, and how it can remain a force for progress across multiple generations," she said.

The conference, in its second edition, themed "Lasting Legacy in an Evolving World", questioned why wealth management conversations are focused heavily on investment returns, while giving less attention to legacy and succession planning.

“The future of African wealth will not be defined solely by how much capital is created. It will be defined by how effectively that capital is preserved, governed, transferred, and deployed to create opportunity for future generations. That is the legacy challenge facing Africa today", explained Chumba.

Standard Chartered, in its publication ‘The Great Repositioning’, published last year, notes that when family members are spread across jurisdictions, challenges do intensify due to differences in rules and regulations.

“The complexity of this landscape makes external expertise essential,” the publication says.