Time for affirmative action to boost smartphone access in Kenya

A few years ago, access to a smartphone may not have counted for much beyond basic telephony, particularly as an essential development parameter.

Today, we must, however, face the reality and work toward clearing barriers that limit access to smartphones, including credit access.

Picture a scenario where you have no access to E-government solutions, such as eCitizen, and cannot enjoy the benefits of social media platforms, quickly search the internet for that nagging question, or find your way using simple internet navigation tools.

It’s a world where it takes an intermediary to register for the Social Health Authority, and where you cannot easily share family moments from birthdays to graduations, as a feature phone cannot host WhatsApp.

You are locked in a world that revolves around accessing financial services via the nearly obsolete USSD options, thus limiting your financial inclusivity options, and where information reaches you only via SMS.

Sadly, that's the life that nearly 33 million Kenyans are currently leading, even as the rest of us rush towards a 5G world with immediate access to information, education, and entertainment at our fingertips.

According to the CA report, feature phones increased to 32.5 million, up from 30.5 million in the quarter under review, representing a 6.5 percent growth. On the other hand, smartphones grew to 42.3 million, up from 41.4 million, representing a 2.1 percent increase.

In a growing country like Kenya, the number of feature phones should be slowing down to nearly zero, with a faster acceleration toward smartphones.

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However, this hasn’t been possible primarily due to economic factors, with an average entry-level smartphone priced at more than Sh15,000, thus, way out of the affordability bracket for many.

To tackle such barriers, Kenya, to its credit, is actively taking the trailblazer position among many other developing countries through the provision of alternative financing solutions to aid smartphone acquisition.

Buy Now, Pay Later financing solutions are today powering more than two million customers, primarily involved in the gig economy. Many of these clients are the typical ride-hailing, delivery, online, and related workers who rely 100 percent on quality smartphones to earn a living.

Players in the gig economy cannot afford to deliver their daily bread or even meet their signed-up corporate obligations, such as with Uber, WeGo, Bolt, Glovo, among others, without a functional smartphone.

According to publicly available data sources, the Kenya Revenue Authority collected Sh16 billion in revenue from digital taxi-hailing and digital delivery services firms, suggesting that this is a trillion-plus formal market.

Without access to smartphones, these enterprises would, however, not be in a position to power our economy and make such significant revenue contributions to our exchequer.

Time is therefore ripe for a multi-stakeholder conversation and affirmative action to ensure that we reverse the growing trend of feature phones and instead accelerate the growth of smartphones.

Each smartphone handset in the hands of a Kenyan contributes to positive economic development, and national efforts must be applied to bridge this digital divide.

The writer is the Head of Growth, Watu Simu Kenya.