The global COVID-19 pandemic drove Safaricom’s fuliza loans to KSh1 billion daily in the first half of 2020 when the government of Kenya imposed restrictions to curb the spread of the virus.
The loans on the platform in the six months to June 2020 hit KSh176 billion, which translates to a daily borrowing of KSh967 million. This is a significant jump from KSh81 billion fuliza loans in the same period last year.
The rise in the uptake of the loans was as a result of job losses and business closures suffered in that period. As Business Daily reports, the economy shed 2.23 million jobs, resulting in reduced cash. Workers on payroll or self-employed dropped from 18.1 million in December 2019 to 15.87 million in June 2020.
Read Also: Over 287,000 Jobs Lost in Q1 2020 – KNBS
Fuliza’s underwriters, KCB Group and NCBA Group disclose that they lent KSh132 billion and KSh44 billion, respectively, through the platform in the six months to June 2020.
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