King’s Pride Properties is set to launch the first annual Kenyans Diaspora Homes Expo in New York in a bid to tap into the $1.29 billion (Ksh109 billion) that Kenyans in the diaspora remit home annually.
The three-day expo is scheduled for 30th August to 1st September at the New Jersey Exposition Centre, New York, and is expected to draw at least 300,000 Kenyans living in the United States.
According to a June 2014 survey by the Central Bank of Kenya, Kenyans living in the United States account for 45 per cent of the total diaspora remittance. However, those willing to invest in the property market back home face various impediments, the most prominent being the lack of information to make sound investment decisions. The expo will be a one-stop-shop providing Kenyans seeking to invest back home with access to key stakeholders in Kenya offering products tailored to meet their needs.
The Kenyans Diaspora Homes Expo will showcase a number of affordable investment opportunities available for Kenyans through partnerships. The expo has attracted 20 investment companies, seven financial institutions, insurance providers and a host of developers keen on a gaining access to the diaspora market that is already bringing in the largest piece of Kenya’s GDP pie. Among the exhibitors are National Bank, Kenya Commercial Bank, CIC Insurance Group and leading real estate franchise RE/MAX.
There is also an expo office already set up in the US to enable investors follow up on the new products and services available in Kenya. This way, the expo office also provides a platform for financial institutions, both Kenyan and US based to access the diaspora market.
The Kenyans Diaspora Homes Expo will coincide with the US Labour Day weekend in August. There will be a cocktail for the exhibitors, VIPs and the diaspora on the opening day of the expo and a Kenya Gala Night on the final day.
The first of its kind, the expo is also expected to take place in the United Kingdom in 2015 as part of Kings Pride Properties’ plans to include as many Kenyans as possible in the expansion of the economy through diaspora remittance.