Small earners find lifeline in mobile phone loans

In May, stone mason Gilbert Mulunya did not have regular work to enable him to get good income, but he is not a worried man when it comes to finances.

The developer at the site in Ruai, on the outskirts of Nairobi, where the mason was working stopped the construction to sort some issues with the city authority. “The work was halted in mid-May. He paid us about $100 (Sh10,121) each for the work we had done and we left the site. I have not been able to find another job,” he said last week. Despite the lack of finances, Mulunya is an emboldened man, thanks to mobile phone loans offered by banks in Kenya.