In Kenya, for instance, estimates of remittances captured only from formal channels that include commercial banks and other authorized international remittances service providers, have averaged USD118.2 million per month so far in 2014, from USD107.5 million per month in 2013. This places remittances as an important source of foreign exchange.
Indeed they have grown exponentially in recent years to surpass some of the major traditional sources. In Sub-Saharan Africa, remittances have become one of the important enablers of economic growth and of poverty reduction. As such, remittances contributed up to 3% of GDP over the last five years and to more than 20% of international flows.