What the study is about

This study develops a comprehensive evidence base of how different Kenyans access and use digital services, as well as the specific support they need to increase the quality and depth of their participation in the digital economy. It creates a comprehensive account of how digital services support and impact people’s lives; people’s satisfaction and concerns of using digital services; the depth of digital exclusion and challenges people continue to face in accessing and using digital services; and, finally, the enabling resources, applications / services, and the supporting ecosystem required to deepen people’s participation in the digital economy.

Limitations of the study

Given the limitations of survey methodologies, we focused only on questions that residents were able to answer credibly through a survey format. We are also limited by the following:

• Residents’ personal perceptions and experiences are by nature subjective

• While we have tried to understand specific challenges that limit people’s usage of various digital services, we cannot attribute causality to these drivers

• This study likely underestimates the real extent of e-commerce, as respondents largely reported the use of marketplace platforms like Jumia and Kilimall while the full breadth of e-commerce also encompasses digital trade through informal platforms—for example, via social media—as well as payments, logistics, addressing systems, and asset recognition including mapping/tracking commodity ownership or exchange. Still, even if all forms of e-commerce were included, there is almost certainly room for many more Kenyans to utilise or deepen their utilisation of digital services for commerce and trade.

• Through a rigorous review process and extensive enumerator training, we have tried to minimise biases arising from the framing, sequence, translation, communication, and interpretation of questions; some biases will inevitably remain.

• Given that we conducted this research in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, residents’ responses may reflect conditions (some of which limit users and some of which may push them to adopt more digital services) that differ from the pre-pandemic norm. We have tried to ask respondents to note how their usage of digital services changed during the pandemic, but some recency biases almost certainly remain.

• Because this study considers only the views of Kenyan residents, we do not attempt to develop a systemic view of the ecosystem that includes a comprehensive exploration of supply-side factors. As a result, we have chosen to not make formal recommendations.