Nairobi, March 16 -- Digital lenders have disbursed over Sh500 billion in loans to small traders and low-income households in the last eight years, pointing to the proliferation of quick credit mobile apps in Kenya.

The loan book represents 13.6 percent of the total gross loans held by the banking sector as of December 2022.

The players say an estimated eight million Kenyans equivalent to a million customers every year have also applied for the mobile micro-loans for household spending or for working capital for their businesses.

About 70 percent of borrowers take funds for business reasons.

This comes at a time when the firms in the sector say delays in licensing have led to difficulties in attracting fresh funding from investors who...