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Opportunities beyond Covid-19: It’s time for Kenya to nurture a fully digital economy

The recent months have been quite surreal for many across the globe.

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“Our love has grown more”

Coronavirus disruptions are giving some Kenyan woman a reprieve from domestic burdens and giving couples a chance to change their marriages

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If the coronavirus doesn’t kill you…

Kenyans’ reflections on security in the time of Covid-19

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Shamba bora (fertile farmland), Shamba la mawe (rocky farmland)

Urban and rural areas are coping to the coronavirus disruptions in different ways

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Corona case studies: Should I stay, or should I go?

Considering urban to rural migration as urban incomes dwindle

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Corona case studies: Kibarua crunch

William lives in a small house in an informal settlement in Mombasa.  When we saw him last in 2015, he had recently married his girlfriend. 

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Corona case studies: Mountains beyond mountains

Kenyan families are trying to cope with perpetual strain

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The costs of coping with Coronavirus

Not only are Kenyans losing their incomes right now, they are also facing increased costs

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The ultimate stress test for financial resilience

How coronavirus adaptations are straining Kenyans’ most robust financial coping mechanisms

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Corona case studies: “If I had food, I would close the shop”

Millicent, 44, and Amos, 45, live in Eldoret with their 17-year-old daughter.  Amos has been working as a matatu driver and bus conductor for many years.  Millicent ran a small restaurant during the Diaries, but is now selling plastic wares from a small Mali Mali shop and knitting sweaters, which she sells mostly at back-to-school time.

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Weathering the COVID-19 storm: How will Kenyans cope?

The COVID-19 pandemic is testing the resilience of governments, health systems, large companies, small businesses and families worldwide.

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Predicting the propensity to succeed among Kenyan “Hustlers”

Shujaaz Inc. is a Kenyan communications research and production company. Formerly called Well Told Story, the company is the producer of “Shujaaz,” an award-winning media platform that provides open spaces – including online platforms – for youth to discuss personal and societal issues often considered sensitive or taboo within their communities.

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The art of cultivating youth skills and employment

This is the second blog in a three-part series on youth employment and skill-based work.

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Becoming business people: What we can learn about development initiatives from Northern Kenya

Laisamis is a settlement in Marsabit County in the Northern part of Kenya towards the Ethiopian border.

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How can inclusive finance help in a pandemic?

We were huddled in a routine team discussion at FSD Kenya when we received news of the first confirmed Covid-19 case in Kenya.  Like many others, we wondered what this might mean for our work, our families and our country in the days ahead.

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Reflections from Sierra Leone: Investment in social protection provides an inclusive pathway to development

During a recent visit to Sierra Leone, I was fascinated by the country’s rich history, friendly people and the beautiful beaches of the Freetown peninsula, with miles and miles of white sand – albeit almost empty.

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FSD Kenya’s new horizons for more inclusive finance

Today, I am honoured to represent FSD Kenya at the UK Africa Investment Summit in London. I am inspired by the potential of the entrepreneurs, investors, government officials and civil society organisations who are full of ideas, solutions, and drive to leverage connections and learning across the continent to grow Africa’s economy and wellbeing.

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Provider, Platform, Product: Which ‘P’ should regulators target?

Technology has changed how services are developed and delivered to customers. Regulators are hard-pressed to figure out how to respond, what to regulate, and what to leave aside.

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5th FSD Kenya Public annual lecture 2019 – Reflections

On November 19, FSD held its annual lecture where David Ferrand shared his insights in a lecture titled ‘Financing Kenya: 2020 hindsight for Vision 2030’.

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Digital credit: not every winner must create a loser

The first article in a blog series examining the Kenyan credit market by FSD Kenya drew an analogy between the recent forest fires in the Amazon Jungle and the explosion of digital credit in Kenya.

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Bridging the gender divide: implications for Kenya’s 21st century pathway to inclusive growth

Natasha is a young woman who has a cake baking business on the outskirts of Nairobi. She has a bank account for her business which she uses intensively. Natasha’s business was doing well and she needed a loan to expand.

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Kenya’s youth and the long road to skill-based work

Combining education, apprenticeship, and start-up capital to surmount barriers and transform trajectories 

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Digital Credit – The most pressing problem in Kenyan credit markets – Really?

The focus on the potential and real risks of digital credit, while commendable, runs the risk of taking our collective eye off the wider credit market, which has a much more significant impact on Kenya’s economy.

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Harnessing the market potential of financially underserved Kenyans

On the 5th of September 2019, the Financial Sector Deepening (FSD) Kenya and the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP), held a stakeholder validation workshop in Nairobi, where they presented the findings of a research study that identified seven key financially underserved segments of the Kenyan population and discussed the potentially viable business cases and policy implications that financial market players could tap into.

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Welcoming Anzetse Were

Financial Sector Deepening (FSD) Kenya is pleased to announce that Anzetse Were has joined the team as Economist, effective September 2019.

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What’s Twitter got to do with consumer protection?

Social media is changing customer service by shifting the ways in which consumers seek resolution of problems and the communications channels that firms make available to consumers.

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Exploring the economic potential of underserved segments of the Kenyan population

In April 2019, the 2019 FinAccess Household Survey revealed that Kenya had made extraordinary strides in financial inclusion. While FinAccess 2019 shows that financial inclusion has peaked at 83% among Kenyans, its findings also evoke poignant questions.

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Did you see my Tweet? Kenyans’ cries for financial consumer protection ring out on social media

The use of an alert system that flagged Twitter conversations on consumer protection topics, when they rose above certain thresholds, shows promise as a new consumer protection market monitoring tool that we could use in Kenya to address the substantial gaps in consumer protection monitoring and enforcement.

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Please, no snails in my beer: Should a duty of care be introduced for financial service providers?

Manufacturers of cars or microwave machines are duty bound to ensure that their products are safe for use. Why can’t financial regulation introduce a similar obligation to ensure financial products and services are not negligently developed and sold, causing harm to consumers?

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Inclusive finance? Not there yet…

As I reflect on my first month leading FSD Kenya, I am struck by both the challenges we face as well as the opportunities we can seize to truly create value through inclusive finance in Kenya.

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