April 9th, 2026

Kenya’s inclusive finance story has long been powered by FinAccess demand‑side surveys. What is missing is an equally coherent supply‑side lens; standardised, shareable data showing how providers actually serve different customer groups and where the gaps persist.

The WE (Women Entrepreneurs) Finance Code presents the opportunity to fill that structural gap with a practical blueprint for standardising, sharing, and using provider data to design solutions that better meet the needs of underserved segments—especially women‑led micro and small enterprises.

The Women Entrepreneurs Finance Code (the WE Finance Code or, simply, the Code) is a global initiative coordinated by We‑Fi secretariat (housed at the World Bank). It was launched in October 2023 at the World Bank–International Monetary Fund (IMF) annual meetings and commits Women owned/led Micro and Small Entreprises (WMSME) ecosystem actors to act across three pillars: leadership, data/reporting, and concrete measures—with annual monitoring to ensure accountability and learning.  In Kenya, the Code is being embedded within the National Financial Inclusion Strategy (NFIS) 2025–2028, aligning commitments, data standards, and market incentives to unlock more financing for women and their enterprises.

Progress has been ecosystem‑driven, bringing national leadership, technical expertise, and market actors into one coordinated process. In October 2025, the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) formally assumed the role of National Champion of the WE Finance Code, Kenya Chapter — providing the institutional anchor to embed the initiative within Kenya’s broader financial‑sector architecture and the NFIS.  Early groundwork led by FSD Kenya funded by the Argidius Foundation  and coordination support from HOPAWI management consulting limited, convened sector stakeholders and aligned priorities, while the technical foundation builds on gender‑disaggregated WMSME dashboards funded by the Gates Foundations and being co‑created with Kenya Bankers Association (KBA), Metropol CRB, AMFI, and SASRA. (These dashboards expand the kind of sex‑disaggregated supply‑side insights the Code seeks globally.) See the KBA dashboard here

The WE Finance Code Kenya Chapter launched on 4 December 2025, alongside Vison 2030 Fourth Medium Term Plan for the financial sector (MTP IV) and the NFIS, with the Code embedded under Pillar 6 of the NFIS. Thirty institutions have already signed, with more than thirty considering formal commitments. Implementation is led jointly by CBK and FSD Kenya through the NFIS Secretariat, working via four Code working groups: Governance & Advocacy, Data & Measurement, Communications, and Product Design & Capacity Building.  Over the past year, champions participated in several forums including a global peer‑learning series curated by the Financial Alliance for Women (FAW) on building the business case for serving WMSMEs—outcomes and lessons from these gatherings continue to inform the rollout of the WE Finance Code Kenya Chapter.

As Kenya domesticates the Code, the task is to balance ambition with institutional realities: align incentives across financial and non‑financial players; close data‑readiness gaps; standardise reporting to produce a national dashboard; track signatory commitments; and mobilise resources to sustain delivery. In 2026, we will finalise and operationalise the WE Finance Code – Kenya Chapter roadmap, moving from commitments to execution as coalition members share lessons and leverage emerging opportunities. The first implementation phase runs for three years, aligned to the NFIS period.

WE Finance Code Kenya Chapter’s  aim is not only to improve how the financial sector serves women‑led MSMEs, but also to demonstrate how a robust, inclusive supply‑side data infrastructure can help Kenyans meet every day needs, build resilience, and invest confidently in their futures. By anchoring leadership, data, and accountable action in a national framework, Kenya can turn better information into better solutions, policies, and outcomes – initially for WMSMEs, and ultimately as an exemplar other vulnerable segments can adapt.

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