The story of Kenya's M-Akiba: selling treasury bonds via mobile

M-Akiba was launched in 2017 as a mobile-based government bond in Kenya designed to broaden the investor base by lowering the minimum investment to KShs 3,000. Despite high registration numbers, actual investment was low; for example, only 247.75 million KShs of a 1 billion KShs offer was taken up during the official launch. A post-issuance study attributed this to poor timing (coinciding with elections and changing bank deposit rates), a confusing purchase process, weak customer support, and a lack of communication prompts. However, the product successfully attracted new investors, with 85% of buyers having never previously purchased a bond.

• M-Akiba aimed to democratize government investment by reducing the minimum entry point from KShs 50,000 to KShs 3,000, targeting a potential pool of over 30 million mobile money account holders.
• The bond experienced significantly lower uptake than expected during both its pilot and official launch phases. In the March 2017 pilot, only 5,692 investors purchased bonds despite 102,632 registrations. During the official launch on 30 June 2017, only KShs 247.75 million was raised against an initial offer of KShs 1 billion.
• The product successfully attracted a new demographic of retail investors, with 85% of participants being first-time bond buyers and distribution spanning across all 47 Kenyan counties.
• Several systemic and operational barriers hindered the bond's success, including a confusing two-stage purchase process, a lack of reminder messages for 60% of interviewed individuals, and the use of a landline helpline that contradicted the mobile nature of the product.
• External factors negatively impacted demand, specifically the timing of the launch during national elections and a change in deposit regulations that saw bank savings interest rates rise from 0% to 7%, reducing the bond's relative appeal.

APA

TIMOTHYRADIER (2018). The story of Kenya's M-Akiba: selling treasury bonds via mobile. FSD Africa. https://fsdafrica.org/the-story-of-kenyas-m-akiba-selling-treasury-bonds-via-mobile/

Chicago

TIMOTHYRADIER. The story of Kenya's M-Akiba: selling treasury bonds via mobile. FSD Africa, 2018. https://fsdafrica.org/the-story-of-kenyas-m-akiba-selling-treasury-bonds-via-mobile/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=TIMOTHYRADIER |title=The story of Kenya's M-Akiba: selling treasury bonds via mobile |publisher=FSD Africa |date=11 May 2018 |url=https://fsdafrica.org/the-story-of-kenyas-m-akiba-selling-treasury-bonds-via-mobile/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{timothyradier2018story, author = {TIMOTHYRADIER}, title = {{The story of Kenya's M-Akiba: selling treasury bonds via mobile}}, institution = {FSD Africa}, year = {2018}, month = may, url = {https://fsdafrica.org/the-story-of-kenyas-m-akiba-selling-treasury-bonds-via-mobile/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }