Kenyans are shifting away from informal, community-based sources such as chamas for financial advice, instead seeking advice from family/friends or self-consultation.
- •Chamas act as a platform where Kenyans hold weekly, monthly, quarterly or annual meetings to dissect their financial wellbeing, financial literacy also formed part of the gathering’s agenda.
- •In 2019, 4.9% more sampled female respondents relied on Chamas for financial advice compared to male at 2.3%, which, by 2021, dipped to 2.8% and 1% for female and male respondents respectively.
- •By 2024, the number seeking financial advice from such groupings has disappeared to 0.1% for both male and female respondents.
“Group/Chama usage has almost disappeared in 2024, reflecting a significant shift away from informal, community-based sources of financial advice,” notes the study.
According to the 2024 Finaccess Household Survey, a large portion of respondents across all education levels rely on themselves for financial advice. This is most common among those with no formal education (47.3%) and those with secondary education (32.8%).
Friends and family are also a major source of advice for many people, especially those with no formal education (44%) and primary education (45.3%), showing the importance of informal support networks.
Urban residents took the lead in seeking financial advice from Friends and Family, recording 48.5 percent against those in the rural areas standing at 45.9 percent. On the other hand, rural residents took the lead in self-reliance on financial advice recording 39.3 percent against those in the urban areas that recorded 34.4 percent.
Media and Ads
The influence of media and advertisements as a source of financial advice has diminished among males, with a significant decrease from 4.3 percent in 2021 to 3.7 percent in 2024, while on the other hand, females recorded an increase from 3 percent in 2021 to 3.3 percent in 2024.
“Across the years, more males relied on themselves for financial advice compared to females. In addition, the gender gap narrowed slightly to 6.7 percentage points in 2024 from 8.7 percentage points in 2021, reflecting increased autonomy among females in financial decision-making. However, reliance on personal networks (friends and family) for financial advice significantly increased among females and males to 51.3 percent and 42.4 percent, respectively, in 2024, from 3.0 percent and 4.3 percent, respectively, in 2021.”
“Subsequently, notable growth was observed in seeking advice from the formal financial institutions by males and females, with males seeking advice increasing to 5.7 percent in 2024 from 3.6 percent in 2021 compared to females seeking advice, which rose to 4.3percent in 2024 from 2.1 percent in 2021.”