A new survey attributes the high rate of financial exclusion among youth to the lack national identity cards which is a key requirement when accessing services.
According to the 2024 FinAccess Household Survey released by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) and the Financial Sector Deepening Trust (FSD) Kenya, an estimated 1.9 million young people aged between 18 and 25 years have no access financial services due to lack of ID cards.
The survey indicates that lack of a national identification of the 2.3 million people without IDs, 1.9 million equivalent to 83.4pc are in the 18-25 years age group.
“The survey indicates that young people in the 18-25 years age group, and older people above 55 years remain the most excluded in accessing any form of financial services and/ or products in 2024 as was in 2021. In particular, the 18–25 years old had the highest exclusion rate of 23.1pc in 2024, an increase from 22.5pc in 2021,” says the report.
Recently, many Kenyans have decried the long waiting period it takes to process the ID cards a move which has forced the government to rollout of live capture equipment in Huduma Centers and National Registration Bureau (NRB) offices across the country.
The State Department of Citizen Services announced in September that the acquisition of the new equipment including two new printers are to reduce waiting time from 21 days to 10 days.
Additionally, the survey shows that the number of youth excluded from financial access is significantly higher in the rural areas where 45.6pc of young people within the age bracket lack access to any form of financial services or products which is also exacerbated by lack of a mobile phone and poverty. This compared to 19.6pc in urban areas.
The survey further indicates that financial exclusion is similarly higher among those above 55 years of age. 12.4pc of Kenyans in rural areas in this age group lack financial access compared to 1.5p in urban areas.
The survey shows that out of 28.1 million adult population in Kenya, only 25.8 million have ID cards with 2.3 million lacking the crucial document needed for registration when seeking loans or conducting financial transactions.
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