Nairobi, Jan. 12 -- Kenyan businesses and households are clinging to cheque payments as African peers increasingly walk away from one of the world's oldest banking instruments amid rising preference for digital transactions.

The value of financial transactions completed through cheques has remained above Sh200 billion every month since 2014, except in 2020 when the figure fell to Sh193 billion as people avoided cash and cheques to minimise the risk of spreading the Covid-19 virus.

The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has been reluctant to phase out cheques in the country, unlike in other African countries such as South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, and Botswana, and developed economies like Finland, Poland, and the Netherlands.

An ana...