Is Financial Inclusion in Africa Overrated?

Logo designed for The Prepaid Economy by Jennifer Mwaogwugwu 3/16/13

 This week I was honored be part of #WhatsNextFinclusion, a series put together by Metta on the state of the Fintech industry in Kenya and more importantly, the future. I was there on behalf of ChamaPesa – a ledger keeping app for social savings groups in Africa. Check out #ChamaPesa on twitter.

This year’s edition was sponsored by Mastercard and the moderator threw some pertinent questions at the panel. I, of course, have my own opinions from my own experience over the past 4 years – what i have observed as an analyst, user researcher, blogger and now co-founder of a startup in the space.

But, I thought it better to pose the same questions to some of the more experienced, brilliant minds from the continent that I have had the privilege to interact with, learn from and exchange ideas.  

What follows is a response from Mwalimu Nyerere – my friend and mentor – on the state of the financial inclusion industry in Kenya and Africa in the raw.  Nothing has been alter-rated so as to preserve the original thought and tone, only polished to give it flow.

How Kenya’s Digital Financial Inclusion Industry Is Failing Women Entrepreneurs

Don’t get me wrong, the efforts by the Kenyan financial inclusion industry have not gone unnoticed. Without naming specifics, the industry’s greatest feat by far is building a wide accessible network for formal financial services.

But access is only one item on a long list. It doesn’t matter how many bank accounts you give to the poor. Heck, even throw in a bitcoin cryptocurrency bank account – 2 mobile banks, 5 traditional bank accounts and 2 cryptocurrency bank accounts. Access means nothing when you can’t put money in people’s pockets. I speak for all when I say Kenyan people want to be empowered, they want more pesa in their pockets period. And that’s ok!

So when I criticize the industry, I mean well.

If you’ve been up and about in Kenya, you will appreciate how pesa will almost always positively correlate to some sort of biashara opportunity and even more likely one in the informal sector

My assertion is there is an overall failure by Kenya’s financial inclusion industry to look beyond the digital personas of the people of East Africa’s informal economy. Whereas, much of their lives unravel offline in cash, trust and biashara networks.