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Educated Elites

22% of Kenya | 6.5 million people

confident, connected, planners

Click below to learn more:

Watch Nyongesa's

Short Documentary

NYONGESA'S STORY

Meet Nyongesa

 

“Where we live, life is not an island. If they make it, I make it. We learn from each other.”

Nyongesa lives on a tea plantation in Limuru with his 6 children and wife. He has a college degree, and for the past 12 years he has managed 70 tea pickers on behalf of the tea company that owns the plantation. The company pays him a good monthly salary, which he compliments with earnings from livestock and active participation in the financial life of his community. His top priorities are to support his parents and put his kids through college. He spends almost half of his yearly salary on school fees alone. He believes you need a good plan and discipline to be financially healthy. He prides himself on being a role model in the community and believes in his ability to manage his money effectively. He feels respected and admired for his financial savvy within the community.

What events in Nyongesa’s past helped him build these financially healthy behaviors to support his family’s future?

> Segment Overview
> Nyongesa's Story

SEGMENT OVERVIEW

Educated Elites,

by the numbers

Like Nyongesa, Educated Elites are mostly higher-income, rural, married men with strong education and high employment rates. Approximately 6.5 million (22% of the Kenyan population) fall in this segment. 

Educated Elites

Kenya Average

GENDER (MALE)

70%

47%

AGE (25-34)

46%

31%

SOCIOECONOMIC (SES 4-5)

70%

40%

HIGH INCOME VOLATILITY

39%

55%

They enjoy limited income volatility—the lowest of any segment—but are still planning- minded, which helps them deal with unexpected expenses and emergencies and work towards savings and investment goals.

Financial Behavior & Attitudes

SAVINGS BEHAVIOR & ATTITUDES

The vast majority of Educated Elites have a bank account and are notably frequent savers.

SAVINGS ACCOUNTS

Like most Kenyans, they save more frequently through mobile money than non-mobile formal financial institutions. However, they are below-average savers through informal groups and friends. 

BORROWING BEHAVIOR & ATTITUDES

While they borrow frequently, Educated Elites do not see themselves as particularly dependable and as such, have extremely low comfort when it comes to holding debt.

BORROWING ACCOUNTS

They use mobile money and family as their main sources for borrowing, and are much less likely to borrow through formal financial institutions. This is in part due to their fear of losing their collateral.

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Educated Elites

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Nigeria Average

Explore our complete set of findings:

> Design Opportunities

DESIGN OPPORTUNITIES

How might we create products and services

for Educated Elites that...

Instill Confidence in Institutional Borrowing

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Offer larger loans to help them invest in their futures, ensuring they do not need a windfall to make this investment

Leverage their Strong Savings Behavior

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Support their broader aspirations for their future long-term goals

Support their

Friends & Family

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Accommodate for the fact that the expense they have the most trouble affording is the money they give or send to family

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