Mobile money has boosted financial services in Kenya, especially among the unbanked. PHOTO | FILE
What you need to know:
Kenya’s rate of financial inclusion is double that of sub-Saharan Africa average of 34 per cent, according to the World Bank global financial inclusion database released earlier this year.
Some 58 per cent of Kenyan adults also have a mobile money account, compared to the sub-Saharan Africa average of just 12 per cent.
Nairobi has been rated the top African city in access to formal financial services, catapulting it into the top 10 cities in economic growth potential.
According to the 2015 MasterCard African Cities Growth Index, Nairobi’s index value rose from 37.2 in 2014 when it was ranked 19th, to 41.3 in 2015 which ranks the city in ninth position out of 74 African cities.
A 2013 survey by the Financial Sector Deepening Trust (FSD Kenya) showed that financial inclusion level in Kenya is 75 per cent, boosted by the growth of mobile money usage especially in the informal sector.
“Nairobi has the highest percentage of the population with a financial account, ranking higher than the South African cities,” says MasterCard in the report.
“Inclusive growth is not possible without appropriate financial services and instruments in place to benefit the under-banked and those excluded from the formal banking system. The only way to ensure sustained, inclusive economic growth is through the financial inclusion of all individuals, communities and countries – starting with the inclusive development of cities.”
Kenya’s rate of financial inclusion is double that of sub-Saharan Africa average of 34 per cent, according to the World Bank global financial inclusion database released earlier this year.
Some 58 per cent of Kenyan adults also have a mobile money account, compared to the sub-Saharan Africa average of just 12 per cent.
In October, FSD released its 2015 FinAcess Geospatial Mapping Survey showing that the number of financial service points — mobile money transfer service kiosks, bank and insurance agents — in Kenya have grown by 33 per cent between 2013 and 2015.
According to the survey, there are now 218 service points for every 100,000 people up from 162 outlets in 2013, underpinning the rapid rise in volumes transacted through mobile money and bank agents.
Data from Central Bank of Kenya shows there were 39,871 agents contracted by commercial banks by the end of September, who had carried out 193.4 million transactions valued at Sh1 trillion in the nine-month period to September.
The CBK also shows that at the end of August, there were 136,042 mobile money agents serving 27 million customers, who transacted Sh1.8 trillion in the first eight months of the year.
In eastern Africa, Dar es Salaam has the best growth index value of 42.1, ranking fifth in the continent based on household consumption expenditure growth and increasing investment in infrastructure.
Kigali is ranked 18th in growth potential, ahead of Addis Ababa at 21st and Kampala at 27th. Mombasa, Kenya’s second largest urban centre, is ranked 32nd with an index value of 33.9.
The 2013 and 2014 top-ranked city, Accra, was seventh this year due to lower revenue from oil amid fiscal pressure from wage increases, subsidies and debt repayments.
The MasterCard growth index takes into account infrastructure development, access to finance, economic diversification and the expansion of the consumer sector, noting that these are some of the key determinants of a city’s ability to attract future foreign direct investment.
PAYE Tax Calculator
Note: The results are not exact but very close to the actual.
