Kenyan Women Saving More than Male Counterparts

Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has stated that Kenyan women account for 82 percent of total savings in the country and the number of transactions associated with women’s banks account being at 58 percent.

CBK governor Patrick Njoroge has attributed this to the to the success in the use of mobile money, which provides women and their families a distinct reason to own and use a mobile phone adding that currently, the country has a relatively small gender gap of about seven percent.

It is very interesting to note that some few years back, the financial market had been dominated by men, who were known to be the only ones who could save huge chunks of money. Women could not manage to save as they have dominated the market.

Njoroge added that the gender gap in the country is currently at about 7 percent adding that targeting women will not only advance their digital and financial inclusion but also deliver significant socio-economic benefits to families and households. Despite the small gender gap, the GSMA study showed that there was a sizeable gap in mobile phone ownership and usage in low and middle-income countries.

“There is evidence to suggest that women in some countries are on average 14 per cent less likely to own a mobile phone than men,” said Njoroge.

The governor noted that the Kenyan government will continue advocating for saving by setting up incentives and attractive financial services through mobile banking.

The fact that men had dominated this sector led them to being reluctant. some reasons that makes women save is that they tend to think of the future more than men, they mind their life which include children after they have retired. It turns out that women rule the roost when it comes to saving for retirement.

When men are busy providing for the family, women on the other hand take that advantage and save whatever small they may be getting since they will be catered for by men. In some instances, married men are forced to cater for the needs of both his and the wives’ family, thus being left empty, with nothing to save.