More should be done to empower Kenyan women

Despite commanding a numerical majority, as confirmed by the just-released 2019 census results by Kenya National Bureau of Statistics(KNBS), Kenyan females’ still hold minority influence socio-economically.

In an ideal situation, with the clear majority in numbers, making up 50.5 percent of the population, according to latest figures from the census, the women of Kenya would be having huge socio-economic influence. Still, this has remained a pipe dream, massive efforts invested in this endeavour notwithstanding.

Taking the agriculture sector, for instance, points towards a grim situation of inequality for the women. According to the KNBS, women provide 80 percent of the farm labour and manage 40 percent of the smallholder farms in Kenya, yet they only own roughly one (1) percent of agricultural land and receive just 10 percent of available credit.

This is because of the magnitude of challenges that women have had strewn on their path to socio-economic empowerment from time immemorial.

The greatest economic challenge has been their limited access to credit from financial institutions to start and scale up a thriving business and create wealth. This is mostly due to lack of collateral limiting their access to credit. Then there is limited access to entrepreneurship training to enhance their chances of success.

Even for political leadership, which is a game of numbers, increasing the proportion of female representation has remained a challenge despite deliberate efforts to boost the same by creating special women representative seats in Parliament.

Over time, some gains have been made and the status of Kenyan women has been on the improving trend. There are more women in a different field in the workplace, in positions of leadership as well as running successful enterprises.

There are more Kenyan women leading listed firms than the global average, according to the recently released Gender Equality in the Workplace Report, though at a dismal 12 percent (compared to the global 5.8 percent average).

Still, in as much a lot has been achieved already, more still needs to be done in further empowering women in the country.

Whichever way it is looked at, the common adage about the value that comes with strength in numbers has consistently failed to hold for Kenyan women’s socio-economic emancipation. There is a historical angle to it – mostly the marginalization and domination by men for a long time.

However, this does not negate the huge opportunity that numerical strength opens up. If harnessed properly, this alone is a potential game-changer. It could turn the tide and make a significant difference in empowering the women of Kenya.

According to UN Women, it is estimated that gender gaps cost the economy some 15 percent of GDP. On the flipside, the organisations notes that increasing female employment rates could triple the growth of a country’s GDP even though that growth does not automatically lead to a reduction in gender-based inequality.

The global agency however records that when more women work, economies grow as women’s economic empowerment boosts productivity, increases economic diversification and income equality in addition to other positive development outcomes.

This is the inspiration behind the approach by the Women Enterprise Fund to take the approach of group methodology (social collateral model) in providing loans free of interest and collateral to Kenyan women. This is one way of leveraging the huge numbers to de-risk this demographic and boost their chances of accessing affordable credit. It also reduces the cost of credit to women.

This approach is bearing fruit. Since inception, the Women Enterprise Fund has cumulatively disbursed Sh 17 Billion benefiting over 1,694,592 women across the country through self-help groups. The congregation into groups has helped reduce risk and maintain high repayment rates since they hold one another accountable.

This has further been boosted by invaluable support from partner organisations, such as Coca-Cola, who have partnered with the Women Enterprise Fund to enhance the offering through business skills training. So far, 1,232,660 women have been trained who includes 557,000 trained through the partnership. Another 285,000 more are targeted to benefit from the training that further enhances their chances of succeeding in business.

It is through such innovative ways of taking advantage of numbers that we can pursue inclusive development that leaves no one behind.

The writer is CEO, Women Enterprise Fund.