FSD Kenya

Young people remain one of the most excluded segments in Kenya’s financial system.​ While formal financial inclusion has plateaued for the general population, there is notable growth in the 26-35 age group. However, the younger 18-25 age group has shown slower growth in formal financial access. ​ Additionally, the 16-17 age group faces significant barriers, particularly around documentation requirements due to the legal requirement of age, which hinder their ability to access formal financial services. Mobile money continues to be the strongest driver of financial access for youth, outpacing traditional banking, especially among 18–25-year-olds. But the gap between urban and rural youth remains stark: urban youth benefit from stronger digital infrastructure, while rural youth struggle with limited connectivity and device access.​ The gender gap persists as well. Young women face layered disadvantages  from lower connectivity and education levels to fewer economic opportunities. Many shoulder early care responsibilities or operate within informal labour markets, pushing them toward informal savings and credit networks rather than formal financial services.​ Beyond understanding these barriers, the findings also highlight a powerful opportunity: tailored, data‑driven interventions can meaningfully shift outcomes for young people. By leveraging insights from the FinAccess 2024 Survey, stakeholders can design targeted policies and financial solutions that meet youth where they are, whether by simplifying onboarding processes for younger age groups, expanding digital access in rural areas, or creating products that better reflect the realities of young women balancing education, early caregiving roles, and informal work. Strengthening collaboration across government, industry, and development partners will be key to ensuring these solutions are scalable and sustainable.​ Read more: fsdkenya.org/blogs-publicat… ​ #InclusiveFinance #FinAccess2024 #IWD2026

When financial tools go digital, women’s opportunities multiply.​ Financial inclusion continues to be a powerful lever for women’s economic empowerment. In Kenya, digitisation has played a central role in closing gender gaps, with the 2024 FinAccess Survey showing that the gender gap in financial access has narrowed to just 1.6%. With an average gender gap of around 6% in developing economies, Kenya is performing better than most. Since the introduction of M‑PESA, digital tools have helped women better manage household finances and participate more fully in the economy.​ Findings from the digital finance segmentation study show just how rapidly women are adopting digital financial services. Between 2021 and 2024, the number of women in the most advanced digital user segment grew by 62%, rising from 3.5 million to 5.7 million. Women are increasingly using digital channels for everyday needs from household expenses to school fees and medical payments reflecting how deeply digital finance is becoming embedded in daily life.​ Yet, digital gaps remain. The most digitally advanced segment is still dominated by men, while women are overrepresented in segments with limited access or lower smartphone ownership, especially in rural areas.​ The challenge ahead is clear: ensuring digital finance not only narrows the gender gap in access but also supports women as household managers, income earners, and business owners. Technology has opened the door now we must ensure every woman can walk through it.​ Read more: fsdkenya.org/blogs-publicat…​ #InclusiveFinance #FinAccess2024 #IWD2026

Oakar Services Limited in partnership with @Vihiga County and @FSDKe has implemented the Lands Information Systems (LIMS) and Electronic Development Application Management System (eDAMS).

Kenya’s youth are shaping the country’s economic future and young women are at the centre of this transformation.​ With nearly 22 million Kenyans under 18 , the choices young people make as they step into adulthood will significantly influence Kenya’s economic trajectory. Data from FinAccess 2024 shows, the transition into financial adulthood looks very different for young women and young men. Despite more young women completing secondary school (33% at age 18 compared to 20% of young men), a gender gap in financial inclusion persists. Higher education typically predicts greater formal financial access yet young women remain more reliant on informal financial systems such as chamas, and borrowing from family and friends. Meanwhile, by age 21, young men are more likely to own mobile money accounts, bank accounts, and formal savings and credit products.​ What drives this difference? Access to technology plays a key role. More young men own phones, especially smartphones, and are more active internet users. This is closely linked to income disparities: at age 21, young men earn a median of KShs. 9,000, while young women earn KShs. 6,000. By their late twenties, this gap widens, with men earning twice as much as women. ​ Life transitions also matter. By age 21, 49% of young women have children, compared to 11% of young men. The responsibilities of early motherhood shape financial behaviour often making informal, community-based financial systems better suited to managing household needs and supporting young families. While men focus on building material assets, young women invest heavily in social assets networks that are proving essential to their financial resilience. These networks create informal safety nets that help women manage risk, smooth consumption, and support income generation.​ Looking ahead, Kenya is witnessing a historic gender reversal in secondary school completion. As more young women become educated, digitally aware, and economically active, the financial sector must evolve to meet their needs. This means rethinking how formal finance can better complement, not replace the powerful social networks women rely on. It means designing products that recognise women’s lived realities, strengthen their financial security, and unlock their economic potential.​ Read more: lnkd.in/dEWpD3R6​ hashtag#inclusivefinance hashtag#FinAccess2024 hashtag#IWD2026 hashtag#GiveToGain

Kenya’s youth are shaping the country’s economic future, and young women are at the centre of this transformation With urbanisationgrowing at 4% annually and nearly 60% of Nairobi’s residents living in informal settlements, the national housing deficit estimated at 2 million units by 2025 has become a structural barrier to inclusive growth. To help address this, FSD Kenya partnered with the Kenya Property Developers Association (KPDA) to launch the Affordable Housing Incentives Program. The initiative focused on translating existing tax incentives into practical pathways that developers could use, supported by an open-access analysis of real project data. The findings were clear: VAT is a major cost driver. Effective VAT relief can reduce total delivery costs by 11% and lower hard construction costs by KShs6,000–8,000 per sqm essential savings in a sector where developer margins average just 9.5%. The analysis showed that current VAT exemptions still leave “embedded” taxes in the supply chain, limiting affordability. Moving to zero-rating could unlock an additional 8–10% in savings, enabling developers to deliver homes at target price points of KShs35,000–42,000 per sqm and scale toward the national goal of 250,000 units annually. Yet accessing both VAT and corporate tax incentives remains complex, involving more than 10 agencies and up to 28 approvals. These opaque processes have delayed progress, with none of the submitted VAT applications approved by April 2025. A key outcome of the program was the creation of the Development Approvals Tracking & Support (DATS) System an accountability tool designed to bring transparency to the approvals process. Moving forward, Kenya must prioritise digitisation, leadership-driven turnaround times, and coordinated workflows. When incentives work in practice and approvals are predictable, Kenya can unlock the full potential of a sector that contributes nearly 20% to GDP and deliver dignified housing for all. Explore the full report here: fsdkenya.org/blogs-publicat… #inclusivefinance

Kenya has expanded public health facilities from 3,512 in 2003 to over 13,500 in 2021. Today, 90% of Kenyans live within an hour of a health centre. This is major progress. However, proximity does not guarantee access. Many patients still struggle because the care they need is not available at the facilities closest to them. The result is delayed care, missed appointments, and huge financial strain. In rural Kwale, Khalim spends KShs 2,800 each month on transport for hypertension care, 20% of his income. In Isiolo, Ziya often goes without insulin because travel costs to a diabetes clinic are too high. And in Nairobi’s informal settlements, Charity has made multiple visits to local clinics but still can not get the specialisedscan she needs to diagnose a potentially serious condition. These stories show a clear gap: Kenya has brought clinics closer, but specialisedcare remains far away. Some counties are trying new solutions. In Murang’a, hypertension patients now receive follow‑up care through telemedicine at their local health centres, reducing travel costs and helping them stay consistent with treatment. To truly ease the burden on families, need to bring care and not just buildings closer to communities. That means better-equipped primary facilities, stronger referral support, and innovative models like telemedicine. For many households, these changes could be life‑changing. Explore the full blog here: fsdkenya.org/blogs-publicat… #inclusivefinance #FSDKenyaHealthFinance

Financial Sector Deepening Kenya (FSD Kenya) collaborates with the Government of Kenya across key priority areas, including green and climate financing, financial inclusion, financial sector development, public finance reforms, capital markets deepening, digital finance, and SME and private sector financing. Through the Climate Finance and Green Economy Unit, the National Treasury will work with FSD Kenya to mobilise sustainable finance and reinforce Kenya’s leadership in green and climate action, youth empowerment and financial innovation. I welcomed the new Chief Executive Officer, Ms. Rashmi Pillai, to the National Treasury and discussed further strengthening our partnership going forward, placing particular emphasis on technical capacity building for carbon credit trading. I also expressed my appreciation to the outgoing CEO, Tamara Cook, who has served FSD Kenya with distinction since 2019.

In 2020, FSD Kenya set out to Tala - a semi-arid farming community in eastern Kenya, marked by climate stress and limited market access. Despite its proximity to Nairobi and Machakos towns, Tala remains disconnected from growth opportunities. Smallholder farmers, especially women, face low liquidity, weak capabilities, and poor access to markets and services, limiting income generation and resilience​ Building on lessons from earlier work in Marsabit, the project team set out to test whether a poultry value-chain approach, combined with strengthened financial and market linkages, could help transform livelihoods in this underserved region.​ Working with Hand in Hand Eastern Africa, the project invested in farmer groups, trained lead farmers and paravets, and brokered new connections to input suppliers, extension services, and offtake markets. ​ An independent assessment by the University of Bath highlighted the project’s impact as well as the broader questions it raises about designing finance and market models for vulnerable farming communities. Households reported improved productivity, stronger financial capabilities, and increased income, both from poultry production and from small businesses started through access to credit. However, external shocks, including drought-driven inflation and rising input costs, tested the sustainability of commercial poultry farming. Many households ultimately leaned on indigenous poultry systems as reliable, liquid assets that could be sold quickly in times of need.​ Overall, the project demonstrated encouraging gains: half of the beneficiaries saw productivity improvements; 64 percent reported higher incomes; 30 percent felt more resilient through savings and asset accumulation; and women experienced greater economic participation and influence at home. Eighteen farmer groups were linked to Equity Bank, and more than half of the participants diversified their investments.'​ The Tala pilot reinforces a critical insight - building resilient rural livelihoods requires more than value-chain efficiency. It calls for financial solutions that protect households, markets that genuinely work for the poorest, and holistic livelihood strategies that empower women and strengthen rural economies for the long term​ ​Explore the full report here: fsdkenya.org/blogs-publicat…​ ​#inclusivefinance

Kenya’s capital markets are evolving rapidly, and the Capital Markets Sub-Sector Report, drawing on findings from the 2024 FinAccess Household Survey, offers a nuanced look at how Kenyans are engaging with investment products and services. The report highlights a clear rise in participation since 2021, much of it driven by technological advances and the growing availability of digital investment platforms that are making market access easier and more convenient than ever before. Yet, beneath this progress lies a set of widening disparities. The data reveals uneven participation along lines of gender, income, wealth, and place of residence, underscoring that not all population groups are benefiting equally from emerging opportunities. Many households still face significant obstacles, including irregular income, limited financial literacy, and financial constraints that hinder meaningful investment. Challenges around investor protection especially slow and ineffective complaint resolution continue to erode trust and limit participation. The report makes a strong case for targeted interventions to close these gaps. Strengthening financial education, improving transparency, enhancing investor protection mechanisms, and developing more inclusive products will be essential to support broader and more equitable engagement in Kenya’s capital markets. These insights call for coordinated action across regulators, market players, and policymakers to build a system in which all Kenyans can confidently and effectively take part. Explore the full report here: fsdkenya.org/finaccess/capi… #FinAccess2024 #inclusivefinance

By transforming coconuts into high-value products for local and international markets, Kentaste is strengthening the entire agricultural value chain and positioning Lamu as a contributor to Kenya’s agro-industrial growth. #GoFarGoTogether @SuedKenya @UKinKenya

This partnership demonstrates how county leadership, UK Government development finance, and private sector collaboration can unlock inclusive and sustainable economic growth at the local level. #GoFarGoTogether @SuedKenya @UKinKenya

Coastal farmers are at the heart of this initiative, enabling them to sell more produce for more money. The UK is proud to support a project like this that brings inclusive growth to a historically marginalised region, offering new work opportunities to young people, women, and too often excluded groups, including people with disabilities. It also helps to position County Government of Lamu as a competitive player in global supply chains and reduce reliance on imports. #GoFarGoTogether @SuedKenya @UKinKenya

With the collaboration of the UK Government, the County Government of Lamu County, the SUED programme, and FSD Kenya, this plant allows us to grow sustainably while building resilience across the communities in Lamu County. #GoFarGoTogether @SuedKenya @UKinKenya

Kenya has more than 100,000 coconut farmers — about 95 per cent of them in Coastal regions — with nearly 10 million trees producing an estimated 300 million fruits annually. Therefore, coconut value addition is a strategic priority for the national government and for local governments. #GoFarGoTogether @SUEDKenya @UKinKenya

🇰🇪 Kenya and the 🇬🇧 UK are adding value to coconuts before export! 🥥🌴 A new processing facility will open markets for 5,000+ smallholder farmers & expand capacity. 🌴More income for farmers ♻️Zero waste production 📦 Stronger export links via Lamu Port #GoFarGoTogether

To give you a sense of the scale: across eight Kenyan counties and twelve municipalities, SUED has now signed 19 investment deals. From about nine million pounds in catalytic seed funding, we have helped unlock over 50 million pounds in total private investment. #GoFarGoTogether @SuedKenya @UKinKenya

We’re set in Lamu County for the commissioning of the coconut processing plant—bringing leaders, partners, and communities together to celebrate local value addition and job creation. #GoFarGoTogether @SuedKenya @UKinKenya

SACCOs have been one of Kenya's most important housing finance actors for decades, with roughly 25% of regulated SACCO loan books directed toward land and housing in 2024, yet structural and operational barriers continue to limit what the sector can actually deliver for its members. Commissioned by FSD Kenya, @SASRA_ke , and @kmrc_co , the “Leveraging SACCO data and research to strengthen the financing of the affordable housing value chain by the SACCO sector”  study finds that the typical SACCO housing borrower earns below KES 100,000 a month and relies on incremental construction, buying a plot and building in stages over years, a reality that current loan products, with tenors of just 2–8 years and closing costs of up to 10%, are simply not designed to accommodate. The supply side tells an equally complicated story - rising payroll deductions, escalating construction costs, weak collateral markets outside urban centres, and the opportunity cost of committing capital to long-term mortgage portfolios are all quietly suppressing SACCO lending potential, even as demand for affordable housing continues to grow. The report's recommendations point toward a coordinated response - pre-financing facilities to help SACCOs build initial mortgage portfolios, structured incremental building products that reflect how members actually construct homes, and stronger borrower education to close the persistent knowledge gaps around mortgages, KMRC's role, and available tax incentives. Read more: fsdkenya.org/blogs-publicat…

Carbon credits are often a controversial topic in climate/green finance. At their core, carbon markets place a price on a tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO₂e), creating a financial incentive for governments, communities, and businesses to avoid, reduce, or remove emissions. When well-governed, they can mobilise significant capital for climate-positive activities - from landscape restoration and clean cooking to nature-based solutions that support livelihoods. But carbon credits cannot solve climate change or climate injustice on their own. They are not a substitute for deep emissions cuts by major emitters, but rather, they represent one essential mechanism within a broader toolkit needed to close the global development and climate finance gap, especially for Africa, where financing needs are rising faster than available resources. For Kenya and the continent at large, the opportunity is clear, high-integrity carbon markets can unlock new investment flows, support adaptation and resilience, and catalyse inclusive green growth. But this will only happen if the market earns and sustains public trust. Restoring confidence hinges on three non‑negotiables: •Integrity in how projects are designed and governed •Transparency in data, methodologies, and benefit-sharing •Verifiable impacts that demonstrate real climate and community outcomes As global frameworks evolve, Africa has a chance to shape a carbon market that works for the continent grounded in equity, scientific rigour, and long‑term value creation. FSD Kenya’s Mugwe Manga and Faith Temba from the Office of Kenya's Special Envoy for Climate explore how Kenya can position itself to lead in this space and what it will take to unlock carbon finance at scale in this blog: fsdkenya.org/blogs-publicat…