The Central Bank of Kenya data shows that only 2.65 percent of Kenya’s 66.3 million bank accounts held more than Sh100,000 last year.
This reflects Kenya’s growing income inequality and the country’s poor savings culture.
At the same time, it shows that the number of high-quality accounts increased to 1.65 million in the year to December, reflecting a growth of 4.2 percent.
This offers a sneak-peek into Kenya’s growing income inequality, where wealth is concentrated in the hands of a small segment of the population.
The earnings inequality has partly been attributed to the previous centralized system of government, which guided sharing of resources since Independence.
The devolved system of government, which took off in 2013, raised hopes of addressing the economic imbalance, as analysts say there is a need to offer incentives to attract private investors to counties and spread the wealth.
Analysts say the growth of accounts with more than Sh100,000 in a pandemic year was driven by a cut in spending for workers that remained in the job market.
The reduced spending was linked to the uncertainty about jobs and loss of pay, and closure and restriction of service businesses like schools, bars and restaurants, which traditionally drive consumer expenditure.