Kenya has one of the fastest electrification rates in Sub-Saharan Africa. Despite the increase in electrification rates, rural and underserved regions remain a critical challenge requiring a cost-effective strategy that maximises the use of stand-alone and off-grid solutions. This paper uses the...

This paper investigates whether economic hardship undermines preferences for honesty. We use controlled, high-stake measures of cheating for private benefit in a large sample of 5,664 Kenyans, exploiting three complementary sources of variation: experimentally manipulated monetary incentives to...

This paper develops a nowcasting model to produce timely estimates of quarterly GDP growth for Kenya. Nowcasting combines official monthly indicators with digital transaction data. Exploiting strong comovement of macroeconomic time series, a few latent factors summarize aggregate dynamics and...

This paper investigates whether economic hardship undermines preferences for honesty. We use controlled, high-stake measures of cheating for private benefit in a sample of 5,664 Kenyans, exploiting three complementary sources of variation: experimentally manipulated monetary incentives to cheat,...

This paper investigates whether economic hardship undermines preferences for honesty. We use controlled, high-stake measures of cheating for private benefit in a large sample of 5,664 Kenyans, exploiting three complementary sources of variation: experimentally manipulated monetary incentives to...

Fiscal sustainability refers to a government's capacity to generate sufficient revenue to cover its expenses and repay its debts without accumulating excessive liabilities or creating new money. Recent observations indicate that Kenya's economic growth has slowed, prompting concerns about its...

The Kenya Longitudinal Socioeconomic Study of Refugees and Host Communities (K-LSRH) is the first national panel survey of registered refugees and hosts in Kenya. It provides a unique opportunity to inform efforts to enhance the socioeconomic integration of refugees. Unlike previous surveys that...

The pursuit of disabled students' inclusion in higher education remains a significant global concern, particularly in developing nations where systemic and institutional barriers persist. Despite progressive legislative and policy frameworks promoting inclusive education, Kenyan and Pakistani...

This study investigates the long-memory properties of the prices of three Kenyan commodities (tea, coffee and horticultural products) by applying fractional integration methods to monthly data spanning the period from August 1998 to December 2024. The empirical results provide evidence of...

This study examined how a company's tax exposure, conceptualized as a capital structure decision factor, influences the financial performance of state-owned sugar manufacturing corporations in Western Kenya. Grounded in Modigliani and Miller's capital structure model and drawing on trade-off,...

The study examines how cost of credit, digital finance and bank capital shape MSME lending and performance in Kenya. Using FinAccess 2024 microdata and bank-level panel data (2011-2024), we estimate a control-function Probit, Mundlak Random Effects Logit and System-GMM model. Results show that...

Partial Credit Guarantees (PCGs) are central to MSME finance, yet their pricing impact is uneven. Using loan-level evidence from 28,356 guaranteed MSME loans issued in Kenya between 2013 and 2024, this paper examines whether PCGs reduce defaults and borrowing costs, and separately benchmarks...

The study seeks to examine the effects of credit guarantee schemes on Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSME) lending. Specifically, the paper examined the performance of a specified credit guarantee scheme, effect of the credit guarantee scheme on MSME loan default probability and how...

This study investigates the sector-specific determinants of MSME credit in Kenya across three dominant sectors-real estate, trade, and transport & communication-that collectively account for nearly 70% of bank MSME lending. Using quarterly data from 2012 to 2024, we apply sectoral Autoregressive...

The paper examines the effects of commercial banks' adoption of Environmental, Social and Governance practices on Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises support in Kenya. The study is underpinned on the growing demand for sustainable financing by entreprises in the wake of need for...

Green banking practice involves the bank's internal operations, external operations and lending decisions which are environmentally, socially and governance (ESG) compliant and sustainable. In Kenya, green banking practice is influenced internally and externally and is context based. Adverse...

Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) are critical drivers towards the growth of the economy and contribute largely towards poverty eradication and employment. In Kenya, the MSME sector contributes to 40% of GDP, and employs approximately 14.9 million. Yet, this sector continues to...

Data from the Central Bank of Kenya show that, in the 12 months to December 2024, the banking sector generated approximately 35.3% of its overall lendingrelated income from the MSME sector, almost half of which was from small and microenterprises (SMEs). During the same period, banks and...

This paper examines the incidence and determinants of credit rationing and borrower discouragement among Kenyan SMEs using firmlevel data from the 2018 World Bank Enterprise Survey. Only about onequarter of firms report no financing obstacles, while the majority face constraints of varying...

This study examined how a company's tax exposure, conceptualized as a capital structure decision factor, influences the financial performance of state-owned sugar manufacturing corporations in Western Kenya. Grounded in Modigliani and Miller's capital structure model and drawing on trade-off,...

This paper examines the incidence and determinants of credit rationing and borrower discouragement among Kenyan SMEs using firmlevel data from the 2018 World Bank Enterprise Survey. Only about onequarter of firms report no financing obstacles, while the majority face constraints of varying...

Data from the Central Bank of Kenya show that, in the 12 months to December 2024, the banking sector generated approximately 35.3% of its overall lendingrelated income from the MSME sector, almost half of which was from small and microenterprises (SMEs). During the same period, banks and...

Can developing economies achieve growth that benefits everyone and protects the planet? This report explores how low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) can achieve inclusive and sustainable economic transformation (ISET) - where economic growth benefits all of society and protects our planet....

The paper examines the effect of macroeconomic imbalances on bank lending with emphasis on the exchange rate movement, inflation differential and fiscal deficit. In the study, bank lending is modelled by gross loans and advances, assets quality and risk appetite. The panel GMM model results show...

Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) are crucial drivers of economic growth. In Kenya, MSMEs represent about 98 percent of all businesses and contribute over 30 percent to the GDP. Despite their essential role in the economy, these enterprises face substantial challenges in...

This study investigates the demand for government securities by Kenyan banks using annual data from 2005 to 2022. Employing a fixed-effects panel regression model, the research examines the factors influencing banks' sovereign debt holdings and their implications for systemic risk. Key findings...

ypical debt sustainability metrics characterize Kenya's sovereign debt as "unsustainable" since around 2019. Further, the data show that, over time, commercial banks' private sector lending has declined while lending to the government has grown. Given these observations, this study examines...

This paper seeks to establish whether the monetary policy stance of Central bank of Kenya (CBK) at the turn of financial markets is pre-emptive or a cleanup. The feedback loop between monetary policy reaction and the markets' response presupposes a sequencing that runs from the former to the...

China has become a major global player in energy finance, infrastructure development and clean technology exports. This report explores the changing nature of China's engagement in energy transitions across Africa, with a focus on three key cases: Kenya, Mozambique and South Africa. Between 2010...

Governments across the Global South have begun introducing biometric IDs (eIDs) in an attempt to improve citizen-state legibility. While such initiatives can improve government efficiency, they also raise important questions about citizen privacy, especially for groups with a history of mistrust...

The analysis of household health financing vulnerability and its impact on health service utilization during the COVID-19 pandemic remains inadequately explored in Kenya. This study was designed to examine the impact of health financing vulnerability on health services utilization during the...

The integration or resettlement efforts aimed at self-reliance of refugees are requisite for their adaptation to social and economic shocks and consequently to their human development and contribution to economic growth. This study analyses the drivers of financial inclusion and social...

This paper estimates the direct and indirect effects of agriculture on health and nutrition using nationally representative survey data collected by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics in 1994, 1997, 2005 and 2015. The models estimated serve as examples of general frameworks that can be used...

The paper examines the association between fertility and female wage employment in Kenya using nationally representative cross-sectional data collected by the Kenya's National Bureau of Statistics, a government-owned statistical organization. Two findings emerge from our analysis. The first...

How important is government business to the private sector in developing economies? This paper uses administrative tax data on firm-to-firm transactions in Kenya to examine the effects of becoming a government contractor on firm performance. Using an event study design, the paper documents...

Kenya has made important progress in its economic transformation agenda in the past decade, but significant legal and regulatory hurdles continue to impede competition across multiple sectors. Overcoming these barriers is essential because competition is key to increasing the number of jobs to...

Kenya's monetary and external policy environment is solid; however, its fiscal outlook places the country at a crossroads. Fiscal slippage persisted in FY2024-25 with the deficit widening to 5.9 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), compared to the revised budget target of 4.3 percent. The...