Author: David Indeje

Micro and small enterprises are the backbone of the Kenyan economy with more than 1.56 million licensed and 5.9 million unlicensed, according to National Treasury data. As a result, they contribute to the employment of approximately 13 million Kenyans every year. Supporting the MSME sector to access credit is, therefore, critical to sustainable growth.  Further, businesses are being urged to be more aggressive in order to create employment and spur economic growth towards achieving vision 2030.  “One of the biggest barriers to their growth is limited access to credit,” according to the Kenya Bankers Association (KBA). The small and medium…

It is important to build a strong credit history and score if you will need to seek a loan from a financial institution one day.  Do you want to be in a position where you have to borrow money? Then think of these five factors that are normally determined by your banker before giving you that money. According to I&M Holdings chief executive Kihara Maina, the better your credit score the greater the willingness of a lender to lend, all other factors held constant.  “The credit score is really a summary of your credit profile,” he said during the first…

For Carole Kinoti, fashion is not just about design. It’s about connecting with my clients. Understanding their story and turning that into a piece they would love. Carole runs a high-end and luxurious trademark that creates a variety of artistic outfits for all regardless of body size and shape, age, financial status or even career. Through her CK Brands, she has created exclusive collections of wearable pieces of art that include Hariri, a trademark collection that incorporates different silks and chiffons from different parts of the world and the Rafaela Collection an exclusive line with a higher quality of silk…

Hivisasa, Africa’s first crowdsourced news site, is shutting down after 6 years in business. A notice from its founder & chief executive Chloe Spoerry issued on Wednesday said despite growing a 6.1 active audience, it has been unable to identify a viable advertisement-led-business model.’ “As a result, we have made the hard decision to close down the current service of local news production, in order to explore new ideas and opportunities.” Spoerry said the influence of the platform has been demonstrated regularly by the social impact of its original county stories, which drive collective action and civic engagement. The platform…

Kenya’s biggest telecoms firm, Safaricom, plans to monetize data from its over 35 million active customer databases. However, the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology says this will not be possible, as it would be infringing on customers’ rights if they sold their location-based data to third parties without their consent. This follows the telco’s announcement to pre-qualify suppliers of a location tracking and intelligence platform. In its bid notice, the telco said: “Safaricom has enjoyed rapid growth since its inception, largely driven by the innovation and delivery of new and sophisticated services riding on telephony and data services.” “The…

Kenya has been ranked 42 globally in the Global Fintech Ranking by Findexable an improvement of ten positions attributed to the introduction of fintech friendly regulations. Some of the regulations are spearheaded by the Central Bank of Kenya which regulates the financial industry, the National Payments Systems Act, National Payment System Regulations 2014 and the Capital Markets Regulatory Sandbox Policy Guidance Note. https://khusoko.com/2019/10/25/capital-markets-authority-named-most-innovative-capital-markets-regulator-in-africa/ Data from the Global Fintech Index 2020, Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance, Finnovating for Africa 2019 Medici and Milken Institute, Kenya ranks first out of 10 countries dubbed ‘Watchers’ in 2020 and beyond. They include Kenya, the…