The effect of mobile technology on self-employment in Kenya

This study examines the effect of mobile technologies on the choice of self-employment in Kenya. The study used the 2016 household FinAccess retail survey data, which was collected using stratified multi-stage sampling to ensure representativeness at the national, regional, and residence (urban vs rural) levels. A probit model was used to analyse the data. The study finds that mobile phones, mobile money, mobile banking, and mobile credit influence one’s decision to become self-employed. Other contributing factors include age, gender, marital status, education, wealth, place of residence, and the number of dependents in the household. These findings suggest that entrepreneurship policy in Kenya will have greater impact by enhancing access to mobile technologies.