• Data by the World Bank reveals that at least a quarter of the African population has internet access, a nearly fifty-fold increase in internet usage since 2000. 
• The rapid spread of the internet across the African continent has been lauded as a key driver of prosperity and a sign of the continent’s technological coming of age. 

Over the past few years, the wealth management industry has seen a significant amount of diversification, from traditionally having products geared towards institutional investors and high net worth individuals to offering more accessible products to low and middle-income earners. 

While WealthTech is not a new concept in Africa, there is room for market players to leverage consumer demand for wealth management products that are more digitally accessible and easy to use. 

WealthTech or wealth management technology is the combining of technology such as AI, big data, SaaS, with financial assets, such as savings, investments, …

• Demand for credit remains high from financially-stressed consumers.
• Banks and lending institutions had emerged as crucial players in Kenya’s recovery journey.
• According to the Central Bank of Kenya, the NPL rate stood at 14.0% at the end of June.

A new report now indicates that the Covid-19 pandemic is continuing to have an impact on the Kenyan credit market, with banks and lending institutions having to adjust their operations to the current economic climate.

Although demand for credit remains high from financially-stressed consumers, the latest TransUnion Q2 2021 Kenya Market Analytics Report shows a decline in the number of active accounts, clients and new accounts opened compared to the previous quarter.

Ongoing consumer demand for credit saw the value of new loans disbursed during the second quarter increase by 2.5% from the first quarter, from Sh486.6 billion to Sh499.0 billion.

This was driven largely by growing demand for the M-Pesa …