Kenyans living abroad have shifted the spotlight on the East African country's growing economy after global remittance service WorldRemit confirmed that it has handled 1 million money transfers.

According to WorldRemit it sends over 50,000 transfers to Kenya every month, with over 90% going to mobile money accounts such as M-Pesa and Airtel Money.

The global remittance service says there are approximately 3 million Kenyans living abroad "with large communities in countries like the UK, US and Canada".

"The contribution of the diaspora - including remittances - is recognised as a critical component in the growth of the Kenyan economy and achieving Vision 2030[1]. According to the Central Bank of Kenya, inward remittances reached a record value of $146.76m in May 2016, making it one of Kenya's top earners," says WorldRemit.

Alix Murphy, Senior Mobile Analyst at WorldRemit, comments: "Kenya is renowned for leading the world in Mobile Money and we're now seeing Kenyans at the forefront of adoption of Mobile Money remittances. The vast majority of our Kenyan customers choose to receive remittances on their M-Pesa or Airtel Money accounts instead of collecting cash. It's convenient, secure and means no more travelling to money transfer agents,

"With over 400 million registered accounts worldwide, Mobile Money is transforming lives by allowing people to access financial services for the first time. As is being showcased in Kenya, Mobile Money will become the method of choice for receiving remittances in many countries across the world," says Murphy.

In February 2016 the GSMA released its 2015 State of the Industry Report on Mobile Financial Services which revealed that there were 1 billion mobile money transactions in December 2015, and 411 million registered mobile money users (with at least 19 countries with more mobile money accounts than bank accounts.)

In December 2015 Gareth Mellon, ICT programme manager at Frost & Sullivan Africa, said there is an expectation that Kenya's dominance in the mobile payment space will likely be tested in 2016, with an overall challenge by mobile money operators in Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.