Kenyans have earned global recognition as the world’s second most daring citizens to take high-risk, high-reward investments even during economic turbulence.
That is the assertion of a new report by BrokerChooser analysts in a metric they call the Financial Audacity Score. The score quantifies the degree to which people are willing to invest even if they are facing economic challenges.
Kenya registered an exceptionally high 8.40 out of 10, second only to South Africa at 8.63.
The remaining nations that fill out the top five are Pakistan (8.37), Philippines (8.30), and India (8.18) – countries where the population still continue to invest hard even without the economic cushion typically needed to commit the kind of risk.
The ranking drew on several key indicators from the World Bank’s Global Findex database and Google Trends. Researchers looked at factors such as financial fragility, dependency on external help during emergencies, and public interest in investment-related topics.
According to the report, 76.16% of Kenyans have ever borrowed at least once and 28.14% have turned to relatives or friends for help in adverse times.
When it comes to the future, more than half of Kenyans (54.72%) said they were worried that they would not have the ability to pay for school fees or save enough to survive on after retirement.
Kenya also had a relatively low gross national savings rate of 15.86%, reflecting the economic pressures on most of its people.
But despite all these obstacles, Kenyans showed a particularly great willingness to invest. The report recorded a near-perfect 9.70 out of 10 in Google search interest for queries like “how to invest”- a clear sign that many are eager to grow their money, even in uncertain times.
