“We continue to see the gendered impact of COVID-19 with economic pressure leading women to sell assets, forgo meals and work more to generate income. Domestic conflict remains elevated and women and girls remain victims of physical and sexual violence, resulting in unwanted pregnancies especially among girls.”
“Even as—on average—things are getting better for many, we still see patches of vulnerability. The tools of resilience are not spread equally and those starting with more are likely to recover faster, some, even at the expense of those who continue to struggle.”
“While parents are eager for their secondary school children, in particular, to get back in the classroom, few low-income Kenyans have a plan for how they will pay, considering their depleted resources and the level of debt they have taken on during the COVID pandemic.”
“In previous months, nearly everyone was struggling as the pain of the economic slowdown took its toll on rural and urban areas and across sectors of the economy. Perhaps the most significant trend now is the striking divergence between those recovering and those continuing to fall back.”
“The protracted financial strain for large numbers of people in Kenya has strained formal and informal finance alike. Digital lenders cut new lending, banks rescheduled loans, MFIs faced both an increased demand for loans and slower than expected repayments.”
“The complexity of the economic impact of COVID-19 means that African governments cannot finance everything. Governments continue to make tough calls on what interventions to finance, and what sectors to prioritize.”
“The combination of a safety net provided by the government and the skills, agency, social capital and business networks developed through the Building Livelihoods programme has given beneficiaries a stronger asset base on which to survive. It has also enabled them to leverage opportunities to earn income, even in the current restricted environment.”
“Whereas varied modes of interventions are experimented and deployed in response to COVID-19, there is a need to recognise that in an emergency like this, determining the level of vulnerability is a fluid undertaking. Furthermore, identifying whom to give cash transfers remains a challenge, considering for instance that those previously considered stable are now rendered vulnerable by the fact of losing their jobs and main sources of livelihood.”
“At the onset of the pandemic, the Central Bank of Kenya announced measures that saw banks and mobile money operators waive fees on transactions below US$10 to encourage the use of cashless modes of payment. Banks also announced the restructuring of loans for longer repayment terms for individuals, SMEs and corporates affected by the crisis.”
“For Kenya to realise a robust and inclusive recovery… it needs to include, or even be led by livelihoods of individuals actively earning incomes from the informal sector — the cuspers — people on the cusp of escaping poverty but are at risk of falling back into it.”
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