SOAS Research Online

Abstract

This paper assesses to what extent, and in what ways, mobile money has affected the financial inclusion of women in Nairobi. Women in Kenya have limited property rights and continue to require approval from their husbands or male family members to conduct financial activities. Besides, most women are concentrated in the informal economy, which has exacerbated their level of financial exclusion since they struggle to provide the documentation that financial institutions require, thus making them more dependent on informal finance. This paper demonstrates how mobile money has significantly decreased the proportion of women in Nairobi excluded from using financial services. Drawing upon survey work conducted by the author across eight areas of Nairobi, this research reveals how mobile money has enabled women to benefit from instant remittance and payment services, and has offered a means of storing money safely, which is an attribute particularly valued by younger women and those with lower levels of educational attainment and income. Although mobile money does not address many of the structural drivers of gendered financial inequality, it has improved levels of financial inclusion by increasing women’s access to various financial channels from which they were previously excluded.