Women likely to experience challenges in accessing financial services - Tala survey

Among the 800 Kenyans who took part in the survey, 64% of women respondents reported that they have experienced challenges accessing financial services.

While 72% of women said they tryied to access a loan, 56% reported that it was “hard” to “very hard” to finance their businesses.

On the other hand, men reported that it “very easy” to finance their business while only 7% of women reported the same.

61% of women respondents report that their long-term financial goal is to increase their income while others aim at increasing inventory or offering a wider variety of products/services.

“49% of women respondents report getting money they need to start or grow their business is a main financial challenge to completing their goals this year. This is followed by balancing business needs with personal life (31%) and dealing with unexpected emergencies (30%),” a report from Tala states, adding that men’s top financial challenge is dealing with competition.

While noting the gender bias in accessing financial services, Tala Kenya General Manager Annstella Mumbi notes that the inequity leads women to self-select themselves out of borrowing or even applying for credit. 

Should the numbers from this report be anything to go by, as players in the credit market, we must intentionally equip our female customers with knowledge and skills to enhance their strategic business ability. Key skills areas include financial management, leadership, and technology which will give them confidence to utilize financial services and unleash their financial power within the larger economy,” stated Mumbi. 

The General Manager expressed Tala’s purpose in providing instant access to capital and the financial tools through their mobile-first financial platform. 

“We intend to use leading machine learning-powered infrastructure to harness the best of next-generation technologies to build trusted, real-world financial solutions for the global majority, and that includes women,” she stated.