Stories and Savings in Our Mothers’ Kangas.

If you grew up in Kenya and many other parts of Africa, there was a corner on your mum’s leso or kanga where she tied her little savings. Sometimes coins, sometimes folded notes hidden carefully, yet always counted, always watched. That little corner was more than a hiding spot. It was a symbol of hope, resourcefulness, and resilience.

A recent FinAccess survey shows that women are more likely than men to use informal savings and loans, with almost 30% of women engaging in informal savings networks like chamas and table banking, compared with 17% of men. These informal circles aren’t just social gatherings; they are lifelines. Places where women pool tiny contributions, borrow at friendly rates, and build collective resilience. In fact, community finance models like table banking have 97% women membership and hold collective savings measured in the billions of shillings across Kenya.

Mobile money and informal mechanisms dominate the way everyday money is stored and moved. According to the 2024 FinAccess report, nearly 36% of Kenyans use mobile money to save, followed by 19.7% relying on chamas, while bank savings account for just 14%.

Yet here’s the twist:

women are brilliant survival savers, but not yet strategic wealth builders.

A large chunk of savings is dedicated to day-to-day needs and emergencies because irregular incomes, caregiving responsibilities, and exclusion from credit systems often make long-term planning feel like a luxury.

This doesn’t mean there isn’t enormous potential. In fact, the strength of kawaida women lies in community, persistence, and ingenuity. With the right tools, budgeting skills, investment insights, and confidence to engage with formal financial systems, the same women who can make a meal from leftovers can also begin making purposeful wealth from their existing income streams.

Women in a Fanikisha Class

That’s why Kianda Foundation is hosting a free live webinar on “Building Wealth From What You Have” a space to explore budgeting, savings strategies, investment mindsets, and how to grow beyond survival savings into wealth-creating habits. Together, we’ll cover:

• How to transform informal money habits into strategic financial growth

• Practical saving structures that don’t require big incomes

• Tools for planning, investing, and building generational wealth

Your money story doesn’t start with wealth — it starts with will. And that’s something kawaida women have in abundance.

On 6th March 2026 at 11 AM EAT, Kianda Foundation will host this free webinar. Our speaker, Wangui Maranga, Senior Financial Services Executive, will guide us through practical, accessible financial principles that apply to everyone, not just the formally employed or high earners.