Co-operatives have long been important institutions for low- to middle-income Kenyans, long before the financial inclusion discourse came about. But it was the advent of mobile money in 2008 that transformed Kenya's financial services industry tremendously and saw different fintech innovations built on the M-Pesa platform. In the last decade or so, there has been a digital credit boom in Kenya with institutions of different kinds, and more recently the government offering microloans to millions of Kenyans, arguing that that credit has the potential to help the poor forge their paths out of poverty. Based on extensive original research, the book from which this presentation draws examines how digital lenders and Savings and Credit Co-operative Societies (SACCOs) go about extending credit, and how borrowers experience this. The book shows that digital credit is an important component of a Kenyan's credit mix. However, the use of digital credit varies greatly between people who occupy different income classes. For the poor, who are the targets of financial inclusion, these loans often take the form of 'bad credit' which compromises their financial health, leaving them overindebted. The book explains the ways in which the current monetary system does not work for the poor, arguing that true financial inclusion can only be achieved via a fundamental rethinking of the money system.
WISER Seminar Papers
- WISER's TRUST seminar is hosted on-line every Monday afternoon from 16:00 - 17:00 SA time during the teaching semester. Forthcoming seminars are available here, and past events are detailed in our archive.
- Please register on Zoom in advance of the meeting on this link.
- Participants should please read the paper (below) prior to the seminar; it will typically be available by the Friday preceding the seminar.
In this semester, the Trust seminar will explore questions of credit and debt on the African continent. In contrast with the argument that trust and confidence are synonymous (most evident in the Edelman Trust Barometer and the reporting around it), some of the most convincing scholarship argues for the direct association of trust with credit. Other researchers, studying informal African institutions, have found credit everywhere on this continent, but little that can be associated with trust. Some state institutions (like SACCOs in Kenya) and simpler penalties, like efficient bankruptcy laws, seem also to be instrumental in shaping the politics of credit. One key driver of credit systems is a secondary market, which depends in part on institutions and information that derive from (and support) fiduciaries. These are especially important in the contemporary tensions between firm-based and individualised credit systems. The seminar series this semester will explore some of these dynamics, examining how they have shaped the cultures and politics of debt and credit from the precolonial to the contemporary period.
Presented by : Eric Magale
7 Oct 2026 - 4:00pm
WISER Research Theme: