This archive report was first published on 10 July 2020.
Published on July 10, 2020, a recent study by Nairobi-based Viffa Consult has shed light on the financial needs of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Kenya.
The research found that 59 percent of the firms surveyed need up to Sh250,000 to recover from the pandemic, while 33 percent require between Sh251,000 and Sh1 million.
Most of the firms (58 percent) covered in the survey had sales of between Sh500,000 and Sh5 million, but the research also included firms (33 percent) with sales of between zero and Sh500,000.
Interestingly, the majority of recovery funds are coming from banks and mobile wallets, with banks being the biggest source of financing at slightly over 50 percent, followed closely by mobile wallets at nearly 30 percent.
According to the survey, there is an increased uptake of mobile wallets, with a nine-percentage point increase between 2019-2020, indicating a growing preference by SMEs due to its role in promoting financial inclusion with ease of access to loans without collateral requirements as well as convenience as major value proposition.
