Kenyans have been ranked second globally in the tier of citizens who are actively chasing high-risk, high-reward investment opportunities, despite financial instability.
A new report by experts at BrokerChooser highlighted what they described as a 'Financial Audacity Score', which determines where people are most likely to invest in despite facing financial challenges.
According to the report, Kenya scored a notable 8.40 out of 10, coming in behind South Africa, which topped the list with a score of 8.63.
Pakistan (8.37), the Philippines (8.30) and India (8.18) round off the top five countries globally whose population are investment-hungry despite lacking the necessary resources to take on the investments.
The ranking was based on several factors, which were drawn from the World Bank Global Findex database and Google Trends data. The data looked at factors like financial fragility, reliance on external sources for emergency funds and search interest in investment-related topics.
Based on these factors, the report found that 76.16 per cent of Kenyans have borrowed money at some point, while a further 28.14 per cent have relied on family and friends as a source for emergency funds.
On future financial well-being, more than half the population in Kenya (54.72 per cent) expressed concerns about affording school fees or securing enough money for post-retirement.
Kenya also recorded a fairly low gross national savings rate of 15.86 per cent. Despite this, Kenyans demonstrated an overwhelming desire to invest, with a score of 9.70 out of 10 in Google search interest for phrases like "how to invest".
Most investment-curious countries
Incidentally, the latest research aligns with a similar one done weeks earlier, where Kenya ranked third globally among the most investment-curious countries in the world.
The study analysed online search behaviour related to personal finance and investment, with Kenya recording an impressive 17,288 monthly investment-related searches per one million people.
This statistic alone places Kenya ahead of much larger economies and more established financial markets such as Canada, South Africa, and the UAE.
Australia toped the list as the world's most investment-curious nation, with an impressive 29,359 investment-related monthly searches per one million people. There is significant curiosity around cryptocurrency, with 6,691 users searching for terms such as “crypto news today” and “how to buy crypto”.
