Young and restless: Why Kenyan youth love get rich quick schemes

For them, investment is all about the thrill [Photo: Shutterstock]

Their motto is impossible is nothing. They are sure that even with the dark cloud of destitution blowing across oceans to every hamlet and hanging ominously over humanity, becoming millionaires is just one get-rich-quick scheme away. They are the reason pyramid schemes and dubious multi-level marketing plots have spread fast across the country - why con men have managed to make away with millions of shillings before their scams collapse.

They are the youth of Kenya, and for them, investment is all about the thrill. The idea of ‘get rich, or die trying’ is not too far removed from their reality. According to a White Paper on consumer financial education with respect to capital markets - which is the part of the financial system that raises cash through the sale of shares, bonds and other long-term instruments - when young people think investment, they think get rich quick.