Improved youth saving culture to spur growth

The National Social Security Fund (NSSF) Act, 2013 has not gone down well with majority of the Kenyan workers. They view saving like a burden on their wallets or purses, with some arguing they do not have enough salary to save.

The common belief among the older generation has shifted the focus to the youth to inculcate a saving culture from an earlier age. “Saving among the young people aged 12-18 presents not only challenges but also opportunities in equipping them before transition into adulthood with the right financial skills to live into the future,” says Ruth Dueck Mbeba.  Mbeba, a program manager, microfinance, financial inclusion at

The MasterCard Foundation says that instilling saving skills from an earlier age benefits adults either as entrepreneurs or in employment. “As a consequence, these will enable the to access finance and build their asset base and good habits around savings. It will empower them to invest into their own future as possible,” she notes.

Industrialisation and Enterprise Development Principal Secretary Wilson Songa noted that teaching the young generation a saving culture from an earlier age is instrumental in accelerating the economic growth pace for Kenya.  “The thinking among the youth on saving towards retirement would be different by inculcating the financial literacy skills early enough,” Songa noted.

This, he said, has the potential of freeing some money that would have been directed to unnecessary and expensive consumption to meaningful investment.

“By starting early, the success rate of society’s saving culture is high compared to starting late,” he said, adding that the environment is dynamic hence the need to learn with the changing times. Pension schemes are key financing sources for infrastructural projects and can be alternatives for government instead of resorting to foreign borrowing to bridge budget deficit.

According to Mbeba, these are part of the efforts to improve the economic opportunities among graduates and school dropouts to transit to meaningful employment or entrepreneurship.

Savings outlook

She noted that part of their research indicate that the youth are resilient, committed, creative and entrepreneurial. Besides, majority of them have long term plans, look positively towards their outlook and how they plan to retire and improve their personal situation, save money for their education for long term plans.

 “They know that they have the chance to create the kind of lifestyle they want for themselves and also for the entire community unlike in Europe where the young people think about themselves along,” stated Mbeba.

For Dorrinne Ngurukie, Africa Regional Technical Advisor, YouthSave Project at Save the Children,  saving from an early age, the youth are able to cut down on buying chunk foods besides being able to make a wise financial decision.

Dorrinne says the exercise is expected to boost the saving culture in the country.  “There is need for the young people to gain saving knowledge while growing up through teaching them on the values of putting aside for the rainy days and this will eventually influence the entire society on the values of saving,” Dorrinne noted.

Kenya’s saving culture as a percentage of the national income stands at 12 per cent compared to Uganda and Tanzania that have crossed the 20 per cent mark and an average of 17 per cent in Africa according to World Bank Report.  China is the leading globally at about 54 per cent and this is attributed to its improved and sustainable economic growth.

Part of these efforts is a partnership between The MasterCard Foundation, Save the Children and Postbank Kenya to assist the young people to open bank accounts, known as Smata.  “With 90,000 young Kenyans with bank accounts, this is meant to build a strong foundation to build into the future where retirement is bitter,” Dorrinne argued, adding