Through its AfyaPoa range of products, Insurance for All (IFA) has been delivering affordable and relevant protection to underserved Kenyans in the informal sector for over two years.  Intending to broaden its reach through new gig economy partnerships and strengthen and improve its products and distribution approaches, IFA, with support from FSD Kenya and research assistance from 17 Triggers, conducted a four-month research and design phase followed by a six-month pilot.

The creative sector sub-sectors such as crafts, design, film/ motion picture, music/sound recording, Kenyan market hosts a vibrant, varied with creatives in multiple performance arts, photography, visual art among others. Creative enterprises play a unique role in building cultural cohesion, expressing cultural identity, as well as being an important source of jobs and export earnings. Creative enterprises in Kenya are primarily informal with little incentive to register their operations.

In May 2017, a special focus in The Economist likened data to the fuel of the future, noting that “data are to this century what oil was to the last one: a driver of growth and change” predicting that the largest conglomerates of the future will be data-driven firms like Google, Tencent, Amazon, and so on, in much the same way the previous century’s oil and manufacturing conglomerates defined the industrial revolution.  

Restrictions introduced in March 2020 to control the spread of COVID-19 have had a devastating effect on rural livelihoods in Kenya.

Insights from these interviews suggest a number of ideas for intervention to support recovery and rebuilding.

In Kenya, divergence trends continue with macroeconomic resilience masking sustained inequalities and divergence in recovery. On one hand, inflation remains reasonable; export performance has been relatively strong (especially relative to other African countries); diaspora remittances have been robust; and the mobile money sector has demonstrated sustained resilience and growth.

Rather than a ‘cost’ to the state, social protection is an essential component of any sustainable, national economic growth strategy. Most of the world’s successful economies are significant investors in social protection, with spending across the OECD averaging 12 per cent of GDP.

FSD Kenya implemented a four-year pilot graduation project targeting beneficiaries of the Hunger Safety Net Programme (HSNP) in Laisamis Sub County (Laisamis, Gudas, Logologo, Korr, Merille, Irrir), which provides a bi-monthly cash transfer of Ksh 5,400 (about US$ 54).

It is hard to believe it has been more than a year since the first COVID-19 case was confirmed in Kenya, forcing us to make many unanticipated adjustments about the way we worked.

Most significantly, we had to shift to remote working. One year down the line, I am immensely proud of our team for staying the course so far and maintaining our momentum despite the disruption of COVID-19.

Kenya’s credit information sharing (CIS) mechanism has been under development for ten years now since the formal launch in July 2010. Anchored in the Banking Act, the mechanism was primarily
established for institutions licensed under the Banking Act.

The building livelihoods programme is a modified financial graduation project that emphasises market-based programme components to increase cost-effectiveness and potential for scale. The aim of the programme is to help those living in extreme poverty build sustainable livelihoods through business to enable them to live above the ‘survival threshold’, whereby households can meet basic food needs without external assistance (Fitzgibbon & Cabot Venton, 2014).

On the afternoon of Thursday, November 19th, 2020, Researcher Julie Zollmann defied the COVID-imposed absence of a live audience to deliver FSD Kenya’s 2020 Public annual lecture on inclusive finance, via YouTube from the University of Nairobi’s Chandaria Auditorium.

The Covid-19 pandemic is throwing a curved ball at us. It has made planning virtually impossible.

In mid-July we interviewed a subset of FSD Kenya/CARE’s Building Livelihoods programme beneficiaries in Northern Kenya to understand the extent to which resources built up through the programme are supporting resilience of beneficiary households during COVID-19, and how these compare and interact with traditional pastoralist coping mechanisms.

“Things are getting bad,” Vanessa told us. When we spoke with her in late June, her family had just about run out of food and were waiting for the next harvest.

As COVID-19 continues to ravage economies across the world, a key point of emerging macroeconomic focus is its variated impact at sectoral level.

They were making only about Ksh 4,000 per month (about $40) the last time we saw them in 2015.

The main objectives of this study was to explore the challenges faced by retail traders in Kenya, specifically women and youth traders, as well as the potential barriers and opportunities for women and youth to use digital solutions in their businesses. The research methodology included both qualitative and quantitative elements including an analysis of survey data and in-depth interviews with retail traders

As the world reels from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, a key lesson it has taught us is the universality of our vulnerability.

The KHHEUS is a national household survey that explores health seeking behavior, the utilization of health services, health spending, and health insurance coverage amongst Kenyan households.

This data pack contains several files (in .csv and .dta formats) with information collected about households and household members participating in the 2012-2013 Kenya Financial Diaries study.