Institute for Money, Technology & Financial Inclusion

With mobile money technology being adopted, financial inclusion especially with regard to women and less educated is becoming a reality. In Kenya the high rate of adoption of this technology has resulted in more mobile money accounts than bank accounts. In this study we sought to determine whether mobile money usage influences control of productive resources among women micro entrepreneurs participating in table banking. The Government of the Republic of Kenya has been encouraging female entrepreneurship as one strategy of propelling the nation to the status of a newly industrialized country able to offer comfortable life to her citizens. Success in entrepreneurship is linked to control of productive resources yet this is a gendered aspect that favors men in much of the developing world. It is therefore imperative to document how women control these resources in the business context. A mixed data collection approach was adopted comprising a questionnaire administered to 392 respondents, two object-centered focus group discussions, and in-depth interviews with ten respondents. Questionnaire data were analyzed using frequencies, percentages and correlation coefficient while the rest were analyzed qualitatively.

Important findings related to gender, discretion, and control of resources. Mobile money technology has enabled women micro-entrepreneurs to control productive resources and especially business money. Results indicate that use of mobile money services influenced control of resources, especially those services that are easily integrated into existing social and business arrangements. Further investigations revealed that mobile money services have provided discreet methods of keeping business financial transactions shielded from husbands’ interferences. Interestingly, there was low usage of micro-savings and micro-credit services for table banking activities. Consequently, mobile micro-credit services had no significant relationship with control of productive resources. Qualitative data indicated that men are joining ‘women-only’ groups and are contributing new ideas and perspectives leading to investments in areas that are not traditionally for women.