FSD Kenya

How do Kenyans actually navigate the financial realities of seeking healthcare? @felistusmbole and @natellous share early insights from the FSD Kenya, Ekko Insights and Georgetown University healthcare financial diaries study, revealing three important shifts shaping health-seeking and financing behaviour. First, there has been a move towards digital payments, driven in part by the 2016 waiver on transaction fees for amounts below KShs 100. This has made it easier for households to manage small, frequent health related expenses. Second, persistent medication stock-outs in public facilities mean communities rely heavily on private pharmacies. While this fills a critical gap, it also introduces new risks including inconsistent quality of care and increased use of alternative medicines. Third, proximity does not always equal access, with many patients, especially those with chronic conditions, still needing to travel to higher level facilities for treatment. The cost and time involved remain a significant barrier. Read more: fsdkenya.org/blogs-publicat… This blog is one of the entries in FSD Kenya’s 2025 annual report. Read the full FSD Kenya 2025 annual report (pdf) here: fsdkenya.org/wp-content/upl…

The Nanyuki Bulk Water Project is a case study of how innovative finance can unlock climate resilience, economic growth, and improved livelihoods. As a flagship initiative under the county green preparation facility, the project demonstrates how well-structured, bankable infrastructure can attract green capital while addressing critical service gaps. By strengthening water access in a fast-growing urban area, it is not only improving public health and supporting businesses, but also laying the foundation for sustainable, inclusive growth. Beyond infrastructure, the project signals a shift in how counties can mobilise investment through combining technical preparation, climate alignment, and market-ready design to crowd in private capital. This approach helps turn local development priorities into viable opportunities for green financing. As a result, jobs are created, resilience strengthened, and a pathway opened for counties to actively participate in Kenya’s growing green capital markets. Read more: fsdkenya.org/blogs-publicat… This blog by Mugwe Manga and Sarah Makena is one of the articles in FSD Kenya’s 2025 annual report. Read the full FSD Kenya 2025 annual report (pdf) here: fsdkenya.org/wp-content/upl…

Kenya’s PayGo story is a demonstration of one pathway for inclusive market systems to scale. From the early 2010s, PayGo models unlocked access to solar home systems for low-income households in Kenya by pairing small, flexible payments with mobile money. What started as a solution for energy poverty quickly evolved, and today, the same model finances smartphones, household appliances, and productive assets, expanding both opportunity and resilience. The journey of PayGo in Kenya was not linear. Early growth was fuelled by impact capital and rapid customer acquisition, often at the expense of short-term profitability, but with time, the sector matured, diversified, and, like much of the economy, faced stress during Covid-19. Today, Kenya remains an interesting PayGo market, serving over 1.5 million customers, with providers improving unit economics, refining risk management, and moving steadily towards sustainability. This evolution offers important lessons on what it takes to build markets that truly work for low-income consumers. 📘 Explore the case study of the emergence of PayGo business models in Kenya in FSD Kenya’s 20-year review here: fsdkenya.org/wp-content/upl…

Small, well-structured finance can unlock large-scale change, particularly in essential services such as water and sanitation. @seeta_v_shah writes about FSD Kenya's support to @AMFIKENYA's rotational credit fund model, which demonstrates how small loans, when organised through community-based systems, can improve access to water infrastructure. Through pooling of resources and rotating credit among members, the model enables households and local providers to invest in water connections, storage and sanitation solutions without requiring large upfront capital. The approach is notable for combining financial inclusion with practical service delivery. It builds on existing social structures, reduces risk through collective participation and improves repayment performance, while simultaneously creating a pathway for underserved communities to gradually upgrade their water access in a sustainable manner. Evidence from the model suggests that demand for water financing remains strong where products are tailored to income patterns and local realities, and that scalable solutions will depend on strengthening partnerships between financial institutions, community groups and service providers. The experience offers useful lessons for expanding access to basic services while deepening financial inclusion. Read the full blog here: fsdkenya.org/blogs-publicat… This blog is one of the entries in FSD Kenya’s 2025 annual report. Read the full FSD Kenya 2025 annual report (pdf) here: lnkd.in/d5KWVWPd

By 2024, 1.76 million Kenyans were receiving a monthly stipend of KShs 2,000 through a government payment platform built over two decades. Its origins trace back to the Hunger Safety Net Programme, where FSD Kenya took on an unusual role for a market facilitator, the role of managing payments to households in arid and semi arid lands of northern Kenya. The intention of the payment platform went beyond delivering money to vulnerable households, and by managing payments in some of Kenya’s most infrastructure-poor regions, the programme was designed to help build the underlying financial rails needed to serve people sustainably. Simply put, the programme was designed to digitise government payments in ways that work for low-income households while also supporting financial market development. FSD Kenya worked with the National Treasury, Central Bank of Kenya, the National Drought Management Authority, the Kenya Bankers Association, VISA, Mastercard, and donors to design a shared platform for social protection payments. The design introduced a choice-based model where beneficiaries had the selection of four contracted payment service providers at account opening, with periodic windows to switch. The intent of this approach was to place agency in the hands of recipients and competitive pressure on providers. When Covid-19 hit, the platform helped the government reach vulnerable households at speed. This case study is one of several in our twenty year review of market systems work in Kenya's financial sector. Read the full report here: fsdkenya.org/wp-content/upl…

Kenya’s intermediary cities are on the frontline of rapid urbanisation, climate risk and rising demand for inclusive economic opportunity. Turning urban plans into tangible investments, jobs and viable local economies requires more than good intentions. It demands coordination, evidence and capital that is fit for purpose. @dunoyaro and @felistusmbole share insights from the Sustainable Urban Economic Development Programme (SUED), which shows what it takes to move from urban economic diagnostics to bankable investments that deliver results on the ground. The blog outlines how structured urban economic planning, rigorous feasibility analysis and targeted seed funding can help de‑risk investments and crowd in private and public finance. To date, the Sustainable Urban Economic Development Programme (SUED) has mobilised significant investment across multiple municipalities, supporting thousands of jobs and demonstrating what is possible when planning, finance and implementation are deliberately linked. The blog also reflects on what it takes to sustain momentum: sequencing reforms, navigating land and infrastructure constraints, building local capacity, and maintaining investor confidence. Looking ahead, opportunities in climate-smart agro‑processing, green infrastructure and circular economy solutions point to where the next wave of urban jobs could come from. 👉 Read the full blog: fsdkenya.org/blogs-publicat… This blog is one of the entries in FSD Kenya’s 2025 annual report. Read the full FSD Kenya 2025 annual report here: lnkd.in/d5KWVWPd #GoFarGoTogether

Kenya’s inclusive finance journey has been shaped by strong demand‑side insights. To unlock the next phase of impact, the supply‑side, i.e., how financial service providers collect, share, and use data to serve different customer segments better, must be strengthened. FSD Kenya’s Market Information Lead, @Kwatindi explores how building a robust supply‑side data market infrastructure can catalyse data‑driven innovation through @WEFIKenya. The Code offers a practical framework for standardising and using provider‑level data, with a clear focus on improving financial access for women‑led micro and small enterprises (WMSMEs). Embedded within Kenya’s National Financial Inclusion Strategy (NFIS) 2025 –2028, the WE Finance Code aligns leadership, data, and accountability across the ecosystem. With the @CBKKenya as the National Champion, and delivery anchored through a collaborative, multi‑stakeholder model, the Code is moving from intent to implementation. Read the full blog here: fsdkenya.org/blogs-publicat… @Kwatindi's blog is one of the entries in FSD Kenya’s 2025 annual report. Read the full FSD Kenya 2025 annual report here: lnkd.in/d5KWVWPd

The April 2026 edition of the FSD Kenya newsletter is out! The newsletter shares a round-up of event updates, blogs and publications from FSD Kenya, including insights from a 20‑year review of FSD Kenya’s impact since 2005, demonstrating how Kenya’s financial sector has evolved, and the role FSD Kenya has played in driving that transformation. It also spotlights FSD Kenya's 2025 annual report, events and webinars as well as blogs and publications published since the beginning of the year. 👉 Read the newsletter here: mailchi.mp/fsdkenya/finan… 📩 Not yet on our mailing list? Subscribe to receive insights, research and updates from FSD Kenya straight to your inbox: fsdkenya.us5.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=79…

Members of the public are invited to submit comments on the draft Financial Consumer Protection Framework no later than 𝐓𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐀𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐥 𝟐𝟖, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔 The draft Framework and the feedback template are available on the CAK’s Website - lnkd.in/djS_fxb7

Access to affordable and appropriate credit remains elusive for many Kenyans, especially women and micro & small enterprises. While many Kenyan enterprises, individuals and households have access to credit, many still rely on informal, high-cost lenders, mostly as a result of weak and fragmented credit information systems that fail to capture the borrower's full borrowing story. FSD Kenya's head of policy and infrastructure Francis Gwer unpacks how CIS ValiData offers a practical, system-level solution, enabling lenders to validate and submit standardised credit data to all licensed credit reference bureaus simultaneously. He also explains how improving data quality at the source, through CIS ValiData, strengthens market transparency, supports fairer risk-based pricing, and creates pathways for more inclusive access to credit. ➡️ Read the full blog here: fsdkenya.org/blogs-publicat… This blog is one of the entries in FSD Kenya’s 2025 annual report. Read the full FSD Kenya 2025 annual report here: lnkd.in/d5KWVWPd

In 2005, only about three in ten Kenyan adults (27%) had access to formal financial services. Twenty years later, that figure stands at eight in ten (84.7%). One of the most significant game changers in this increase of access to formal financial services in Kenya was the uptake of mobile money. FSD Kenya’s role in the creation of M-Pesa was subtle and largely out of the public eye, but nonetheless significant. FSD Kenya did not provide the funding for the original experimentation which led to the creation of M-Pesa by Safaricom, supported by Vodafone. However, seeing the potential early on, FSD Kenya funded a consultancy which assisted the early development; and more importantly, played an important role in advocating for the ‘no objection’ letter from the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), which allowed M-Pesa to launch in 2007, in advance of enabling regulations which followed six years later. FSD Kenya: Twenty years of a market systems approach in the Kenyan financial system, documents FSD Kenya's contribution to the development of Kenya's financial sector. 📄 Read the full report here: lnkd.in/drC4AhK4

Shared services could reshape the future of SACCOs in Kenya. SACCOs remain a cornerstone of Kenya’s financial system, mobilising savings, expanding access to credit, and supporting household and enterprise resilience. In 2024 alone, the sector crossed the KShs. 1 trillion asset mark, underlining its growing importance to the economy. Yet this growth is unfolding against a backdrop of rising technology costs, fragmented systems, tightened regulatory requirements, and limited access to national payments infrastructure. In this piece from FSD Kenya's 2025 annual report, FSD Kenya's infrastructure lead Juliet Mburu explores how shared services offer a practical pathway to address these constraints, enabling SACCOs to pool resources, strengthen operational efficiency, and compete more effectively in an increasingly digital and interconnected financial sector. 📖 Read the full blog here: fsdkenya.org/blogs-publicat… This blog is one of the entries in FSD Kenya’s 2025 annual report. Read the full FSD Kenya 2025 annual report here fsdkenya.org/wp-content/upl…

When FSD Kenya was established in 2005 as a specialised market systems facilitator, only about three in ten Kenyan adults (27%) had access to formal financial services. Twenty years later, that figure stands at eight in ten (84.7%). FSD Kenya has worked with the public sector, the financial services industry, and other partners in Kenya and beyond to develop a financial sector that better addresses the real-world challenges that low-income households, micro and small enterprises, and underserved groups such as women and youth deal with on a day to day basis. 📘 FSD Kenya: Twenty years of a market systems approach in the Kenyan financial system, is a new report reflecting on two decades of applying a market systems development approach to the Kenyan financial system. The report reviews how the financial sector has evolved since 2005, the roles played by public and private sector actors, and the contribution of facilitation over direct delivery. It examines what has changed, what has endured and the trade-offs that have shaped outcomes for households, micro and small enterprises and the wider economy. It looks at the underlying conditions that enable markets to function, including the quality of data and evidence, the policy and regulatory environment, core infrastructure and the innovation ecosystem. The report assesses how these elements interact, where progress has been uneven and where risks to financial health and resilience remain. The report also reflects on FSD Kenya’s institutional evolution, lessons from unintended consequences and evidence of harm, and the relevance of market systems thinking in a more digital, more concentrated and more complex financial system. It is intended as a contribution to ongoing debate among policymakers, regulators, funders and practitioners working to build inclusive and sustainable financial markets. 📄 Read the full report here: fsdkenya.org/blogs-publicat…

What does contributing to the building of a financial system that delivers value for a green and inclusive digital economy, while strengthening financial health for women and micro & small enterprises (MSEs) in Kenya, look like? 📘 FSD Kenya's 2025 annual report provides a glimpse into that. The report highlights key work and insights from the year, including: 🔹 Insights from the 2024 FinAccess sub-sector reports 🔹 Fixing Kenya’s credit information sharing puzzle through CIS ValiData 🔹 The rise of shared services for SACCOs across Kenya 🔹 Credit inclusion for small‑scale producers and MSEs using alternative data 🔹 A county green preparation facility flagship driving jobs, growth and green capital markets 🔹 Understanding Kenyans’ needs, health seeking and financing behaviour through the healthcare financial diaries 🔹 Catalysing data‑driven innovation through the WE Finance Code Kenya Chapter 🔹 AMFI’s water and sanitation rotational credit fund model for water access The report also presents insights from a 20‑year review of FSD Kenya’s impact since 2005, showing how Kenya’s financial sector has evolved and the role FSD Kenya has played in driving that transformation. 📖 Read the full report here: fsdkenya.org/blogs-publicat…

📢 #DayThree: 𝑩𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒌𝒇𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝑹𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒕𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒏 𝑫𝒊𝒈𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝑳𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 We closed the three-day benchmarking visit with a roundtable dialogue organized in partnership with @FSDKe, bringing together key stakeholders from Kenya’s digital lending ecosystem alongside the Ugandan delegation. The session created space for a practical exchange on how the market has evolved, what has worked, and where the pressure points remain. The benchmarking visit is part of the 10X Program, which focuses on enabling the growth of MSMEs through the digital economy. The 10X Program is a collaboration between United Nations Capital Development Fund (@UNCDF), @OutboxUganda, and @refactory_acad, in partnership with the @MastercardFdn. The discussion at @FSDKe covered the system-level impact of digital credit on inclusion and vulnerability, structural weaknesses exposed during the market conduct crisis, and behavioural and market shifts following regulatory interventions. We also examined the trade-offs and unintended consequences of reform, alongside strategic lessons for formalizing digital lending. Further conversations explored delivery models, unit economics, pricing and affordability dynamics, risk governance and consumer protection, and overall regulatory effectiveness. We also reflected on the role of industry coordination in addressing market conduct issues, enforcing standards, and the limits of self-regulation, as well as the integration of digital lenders into credit reporting systems, data quality and compliance, and the impact of information sharing on pricing and risk management. Some of the key takeaways included: 🌟 Regulation must be structured to support innovation, particularly in enabling the use of data to extend financial services to populations historically excluded by traditional systems. 🌟 Lenders have a responsibility to uphold the integrity of customer data by ensuring accuracy in reporting, so that shared data ultimately benefits borrowers across the ecosystem. 🌟 Lending approaches need to be tailored to specific sectors, especially for emerging models such as green lending and buy-now-pay-later, where risk profiles and use cases differ. We would like to appreciate @FSDKe for hosting the delegation, which included Maxim Rodgers Nagasha and Phiona Naigaga representing the @BOU_Official; Edith Tusuubira, FCCA, Racheal Vanesa Nakawooya. Muhwezi, and Ndagire Tracy representing MRD; Charlotte Natumanya representing Ministry of Finance @mofpedU; Jordan M Magala representing Personal Data Protection Office, Uganda (@pdpoUG); Joyce Maina, Pius Tweheyo, and Niki Louw representing Digital Lenders; Zianah Nyiramanza Muddu and George Wilson Ssenkande representing @FitspaUG; and Rachael Kentenyingi and Amani Itatiro representing United Nations Capital Development Fund (@UNCDF). #DigitalLending #FinTech #FinancialInclusion #FITSPAUganda #FinancialServices #AfricaFintech #CapacityBuilding

Ealier today, the Ag. Chief Executive Officer, Mr. David Sandagi, held an introductory and consultative meeting with the senior management team from Financial Sector Deepening (@FSDKe), led by their newly appointed Chief Executive Officer, Ms. Rashmi Pillai. The engagement provided an opportunity to exchange perspectives on both ongoing and completed initiatives supported by FSD Kenya, while also reflecting on the impact of these interventions within the SACCO subsector. Discussions further focused on identifying strategic opportunities for deeper collaboration, with a shared commitment to advancing financial inclusion, strengthening institutional capacity, and enhancing the stability and resilience of Kenya’s financial sector. The Authority looks forward to building on this partnership to drive sustainable growth and innovation across the cooperative financial space.

This week, we held discussions with @FSDKe team led by CEO, Rashmi Pillai, to explore ongoing and future collaborations. The conversations focused on advancing financial inclusion, promoting sustainable and gender-inclusive finance, and strengthening industry capacity to better serve all segments of the population. #BankingOnKenya #BeyondBanking

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