An average Kenyan borrower has more than 7 mobile loans, underlying the aggressive borrowing culture that has captured the nation.
The recent Market Overview of Mobile Loans in Kenya report by Credit Info shows that 16 per cent of Kenyans borrowed from multiple mobile loan lenders between the third quarter of 2017 and first quarter of 2018.
Overall, 74.5 per cent of the borrowers had between 2-6 mobile loans at any given time.
“Repetitive borrowing/ lending of mobile loans was common in Kenya and on average each borrower had around four mobile loans,” said the report.
Common mobile loans in Kenya include M-Shwari by Safaricom, KCB-Mpesa, Tala, Branch, Saida, Haraka, Zidisha, Shika, Stawika and Barclays’ Timiza. 98 per cent of all the loans were provided by the banking sectors.
Men of age 41-50 borrowed most, say the report. Only 34.5 per cent of loans were issued to women, with 31-40 age group leading the pack.
Still, even though majority of borrowers had multiple loans, 76.9% of the people only borrowed from the same lender, which indicates high loyalty.
More data;
- •86% of loans below Ksh10,000
- •2% of loans issued to people age 31-50
- •Under 25 years had a share of 10%
- •More than 50% of loans given to low-risk customers
