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Showing all content in Kenya
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Blog post
Mobile money: Leaving no one behind in the digital age
Kenya and Tanzania provide evidence on how technology holds promise for an inclusive, empowered and poverty-free future. Government support and improved financial literacy are found to be key drivers of financial inclusion in the developing world. Mobile money, one of the most popular innovations for development, is considered by many as a promising tool to open the door...
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Blog post
Mobile money: Progress thus far, miles to go
2017 marks ten years since the launch of M-PESA in Kenya, undoubtedly the most successful mobile money product to date. Over the last decade, there have been many developments in the sector, and mobile money has emerged as a predominantly African innovation. A recent conference on Mobile Money and Financial Development, organised by the LSE’s Department of Management and...
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Multimedia Item - Video
James Mwangi: Challenges for private sector in fragile states
James Mwangi, Managing Director and CEO of the Equity Group Holdings Plc, talks about the opportunities and challenges for businesses operating in fragile states.
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Country
Kenya
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Project
Liquidity constraints, presumptive taxation, and tax compliance: Experimental evidence from Kenya
Tax evasion generates significant losses in government revenues and can lead to large distortions in the economy. Evasion is of particular concern in developing countries, where the share of the informal economy is typically larger and the government has limited sources of information. Over the last decade, an increasing number of revenue authorities around the world have...
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Blog post
Bad practices hold back small firms in developing countries
Survey of more than 20,000 small firms suggests better business practices are correlated with higher productivity, firm profits, and rates of survival. Management practices in large firms around the world have been systematically measured and reported in a series of papers by Bloom and Van Reenen (2007, 2010) and Bloom et al. (2012). These papers show that better...
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Project
Tracking constraints to entrepreneurship in Africa
An important part of understanding the growth prospects of an economy comes from understanding the constraints to business growth and entrepreneurship. Unfortunately, the data in this area is scarce in East Africa. The World Bank collects two sets of data in this vein, both of which suffer from some well-known issues such as the focus being solely on formal firms, medium to...
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Event
FDI, SMEs, firm growth, and trade in East Africa
Strong and competitive firms form the core of economic activity. They contribute to economic development through job creation, higher government revenue, and increased wealth and well-being of society. Although firms, FDI, and trade already play an important role in the development of East Africa, the region has not yet tapped into its full potential. In addition, the...
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Project
The social and economic impacts of electrification: Evidence from Kenya
In sub-Saharan Africa, nearly 600 million people live without electricity. This study analyses the economics of rural electrification through a randomised field experiment that connected hundreds of rural households to the national electrical grid in Kenya. The experiment reveals low demand for grid connections, high costs of construction, and limited economic...
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Blog post
Study provides fresh insights into the benefits of mobile money in Kenya
A recently published study on the long-run effects of mobile money on economic outcomes in Kenya provides some valuable insights that will benefit economic development and financial inclusion policies across Africa. The study found that increased access to mobile money has reduced poverty in Kenya, particularly among female-headed households. Rapid expansion of mobile...