A whopping 92 per cent of the respondents in the StanChart survey
reported that use of technology had made their lives easier. PHOTO |
FILE
Kenya’s youths are spending their money on technological gadgets
while giving little or nothing at all to social causes such as alms in
church, a new survey on Africa’s spending habits shows.
The survey by Barclays Bank
and South African based Columinate, found that 63 per cent of Kenyan
youths regularly choose to invest any extra income in electronic devices
(at 38 per cent), while the church or mosque get a paltry one per cent.
The majority of the youths said technological gadgets are important tools of personal advancement hence the heavy spending.
Giving
little to spiritual courses has, however, not prevented the youths from
claiming spiritual fitness. More than half of the 823 youths surveyed
or 52 per cent said they consider themselves to be prospering
spiritually and cite finances as their main challenge.
POOR YOUTH
Only 27 per cent of the respondents said they were prospering financially.
The
list of spending priorities for Kenyan youth includes education and
savings with 18 per cent reporting that they would spend more to improve
their education. Eleven per cent said they would increase their
savings.
“Most youths see investment, education and
savings as the main drivers of prosperity that open the doors to
economic growth,” Barclays Bank managing director Jeremy Awori said.
Only nine per cent of those surveyed identified their educational achievement as a hurdle to prosperity.
At
least 41 per cent of Kenyan youths surveyed cited lack of finances as
the main impediment to their prosperity while a fifth said they lacked
opportunities in the Kenyan economy. None cited poor health as an
impediment to their growth.
The survey also found that
only four per cent of Kenyan youths would consult their spouses or
partners financially – a significant number (61 per cent) trust in
advice from the banks.
The latest survey is a near
reflection of an earlier one by Standard Chartered Plc and UK-based
global research consultancy Globescan, which found that 66 per cent of
Kenya’s middle class had tech devices at the top of their buying list in
the past five years.
A whopping 92 per cent of the
respondents in the StanChart survey reported that use of technology had
made their lives easier, while 85 per cent said access to technology was
important for Kenya’s development.
Besides, 85 per
cent of the respondents said they planned to increasingly use technology
to organise their finances in the next five years, pointing to the
growing popularity of innovations such as mobile banking and mobile
money.
This hunger for electronic gadgets has become a
big driver of earnings for technology companies with telecoms services
firms such as Safaricom reporting a huge take up of internet-enabled phones.
GROWING CONSUMERISM
Safaricom
reported early this year that the number of third generation (3G)
devices on its network had risen to 3.1 million, of which 1.9 million
were smartphones.
This was an increase from the previous year’s 2.3 million 3G-enabled devices, of which 1.2 million were smartphones.
Barclays,
unlike other surveys that have sampled growing consumerism among Kenyan
youths, found that most would not buy expensive clothes and luxury
goods with increased income.
“What is particularly
encouraging is that when asked further, the youth say they would rather
invest in furthering their education than to spend on flashy consumer
goods,” said Mr Awori.
Most youths who are attracted to
designer labels said they would rather source them from the second hand
market rather than pay exorbitantly to acquire the originals – posing a
big conversion challenge to the global luxury brands with an eye on the
Kenyan market.
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