From left: Bernadette Ngara, National Bank of Kenya director for
marketing and corporate communication; Maryanne Mwaura, Citi Bank
public affairs officer East Africa; and Rose Lutta, Nation Media Group
marketing director, during the launch of the new-look ‘Business Daily’
at Hotel Intercontinental yesterday. PHOTO | DIANA NGILA | NMG
Mobile money has had the biggest impact
on closing the gender gap in access to financial services in Kenya,
deputy central bank governor Sheila M’Mbijiwe has said.
Ownership
of the mobile phone and the access it provides to financial services
have left women nearly at par with men, Ms M’Mbijiwe said, citing
statistics indicating that mobile money coverage among women stands at
71 per cent compared to 79 per cent for men.
This is
eight percentage points shy of male coverage, making mobile money an
exception because women normally lag behind men in most segments of the
economy, including ownership of bank accounts, by a greater margin.
“As
women, we spend most of our lives in a minority position and suddenly
you find a product (mobile money) that does not place us in that class,”
said Ms M’Mbijiwe.
“For most (financial products),
women are 30 to 40 percentage points behind men. The 71 per cent
scenario is not perfect because we still have regions such as Marsabit,
Kakuma and Wajir, where mobile coverage is inadequate leaving women at a
disadvantage.” Women account for more than half of the world’s
population but their contribution to national economies continues to lag
behind men, a reality that mobile money services look set to change.
Ms M’Mbijiwe was speaking at a breakfast forum hosted by the Business Daily
to mark the launch of the newspaper’s look, celebrate its 10th
anniversary and introduce the new publication to industry leaders,
analysts and investors.
Nation Media Group chief
executive Joe Muganda said the redesigned paper will continue to focus
on key economic issues but repackage it for digitally-savvy consumers.
“The Business Daily has become a prime source
of information for anybody looking to understand the Kenyan economy and
outlook,” Mr Muganda said during the “Power Breakfast” yesterday.
“NMG
is shifting our efforts to serve a growing number of digitally savvy
consumers in all our publications. It is our pursuit of this consumer
that informed the Business Daily’s redesign.” The new-look
paper is easier on the eye, rich in graphics, with more in-depth content
aimed at improving the consumer’s understanding of the local, national
and regional economy.
Great help all the mobiles bring us, it's very useful for us as a law firm, thanks for the help!
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