What works in Kenya

Kenya has demonstrated significant progress in digital financial inclusion, with M-Pesa mobile money lifting an estimated 194,000 households out of extreme poverty and expanding to 40 million monthly active users by 2026, while the financial inclusion rate rose from 26% in 2006 to 84.8% in 2024. Digital skills and accessibility initiatives have also scaled across the country: Ajira Digital has trained 390,968 young people across all 47 counties and connected 119,462 to online jobs since 2017, and eKitabu has produced over 160 accessible titles for blind, low-vision and deaf learners. Additionally, Signs Media Kenya's assistALL app grew from under 2,000 to 7,000 users between mid and late 2022 and was adopted by Kenya's electoral commission for the 2022 general election, though structural gaps remain—Kenya has only about 500 registered sign-language interpreters for an estimated 260,000 Deaf or hard-of-hearing people.