MSC shared findings from the Financial Diaries research in Kenya at an event on 29th August 2022 in Nairobi. This research intended to unpack the financial life and assess constraints that face women-led MSMEs in open-air and cross-border markets. The study also revealed in-depth knowledge about the opportunity to serve this segment with quality digital financial services to accelerate financial inclusion.

We also hosted a panel of experts at this event, including researchers, market facilitators, trade bodies, and financial institutions. The panelists deliberated on how different stakeholders from the ecosystem can come together and help the female traders in their financial journeys. The key takeaways were:

  • Financial service providers need to use partnerships and build solutions for open-air market and cross-border traders that address their unique financial needs
  • Key players—government and regulators—need to address the high taxation on small enterprises to make them profitable to run and solve the demand-side challenges and needs of MSEs
  • Stakeholders do not know enough about the gaps in the demand and supply of financial products and services that target wMSEs in the wholesale and retail trade and therefore struggle to serve them effectively.