Directing resources towards efforts combating socioeconomic disparities
In Kenya, the focus on economic empowerment of marginalized communities is gaining momentum, with pro-poor financing and devolution playing crucial roles. Ms Mwiti, the Chief Executive Officer of the Council of Governors, is spearheading these efforts.
The upcoming Devolution Conference 2025, themed around examining devolution as a governance tool for equity, inclusion, and social justice, will delve into these topics. The conference will require governments to allocate resources for the progressive realization of economic, social, and cultural rights.
Pro-poor financing is about dismantling systemic barriers to socio-economic inclusion. It involves deliberate financial policies, programs, and investments specifically designed to benefit vulnerable and poor populations and reduce poverty. This approach aims to empower low-income households and socially excluded groups to participate actively in economic activities and build sustainable livelihoods.
Key points about pro-poor financing include encouraging savings growth through government incentives, addressing exploitative lending practices, and enhancing financial literacy and responsibility. Encouraging savings growth can be achieved through schemes like a 2:1 government matching rate on savings up to a certain limit, which boosts the financial capacity of marginalized groups.
Regarding the Devolution Conference 2025, strategies being discussed for financial inclusivity emphasize re-engineering county governments to better support micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), especially those run by marginalized communities. This includes addressing barriers such as multiple business permits, licensing challenges, and poor infrastructure.
The conference also highlights the importance of developing pro-poor policies through participatory approaches that include marginalized voices in policy-making. This approach helps tailor financial and developmental programs to local realities. Furthermore, the conference supports economic diversification and job creation beyond vulnerable sectors such as agriculture, focusing on entrepreneurship, small business growth, and technology access to promote inclusive growth.
However, counties still face challenges, including inadequate allocation of resources to address inequalities, marginalization, and poverty. The session's outcomes include consensus building on innovative strategies to ensure focus on marginalized populations and financial inclusivity. The Devolution Conference 2025's third day will focus on financing equity and inclusion.
A viable solution to ensure economic growth benefits everyone, especially the marginalized, is pro-poor financing. Prioritizing such commitments advances redistributive justice, ensuring that the benefits of devolution reach the vulnerable and marginalized. Amartya Sen suggests that development is a process of expanding real freedoms and extinguishing 'unfreedoms' such as poverty, poor economic opportunities, and systematic social deprivation. Pro-poor financing in Kenya can help ensure that economic growth benefits marginalized communities by improving their access to affordable and tailored financial products and services, increasing financial literacy, and fostering responsible use of financial tools.
References:
- Kenya: Pro-Poor Financing for Inclusive Development
- Devolution Conference 2025: Strengthening County Governments for Financial Inclusivity
- Participatory Budgeting in Kenya: A Tool for Financial Inclusivity
- The Role of Sub-National Governments in Financial Inclusivity: A Case Study of Kenya
- Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development in Kenya: A Pathway to Inclusive Growth
- The upcoming Devolution Conference 2025, focused on equity, inclusion, and social justice, will delve into topics such as politics, general-news, and social justice, emphasizing the importance of pro-poor financing for improving access to financial products and services for marginalized communities.
- At the Devolution Conference 2025, discussions on financial inclusivity will revolve around encouraging savings growth, enhancing financial literacy, and fostering responsible use of financial tools in the context of health, finance, politics, and business, particularly for the empowerment of low-income households and marginalized groups.
- The Devolution Conference 2025 will address the challenges faced by counties in Kenya, including inadequate allocation of resources, and will focus on the third day on financing equity and inclusion, as part of the broader effort towards economic development and social justice.
