Reducing digital poverty in Kenya? An innovative credit service in a base-of-pyramid market

37% of Kenya’s population is considered to be living in ‘internet poverty’ (World Data Lab, 2023). According to the United Nations Development Programme, Kenya's mobile and fixed broadband data access costs are among the highest in East Africa. Their discussion paper, "Addressing Inequality: Universal Access to Digital Financial Services for Equitable Growth" published in October 2023, analyzes the transformative impact of digital financial services in Kenya and highlights the need for universal access to digital infrastructure and digital financial services to ensure that the digital divide does not lead to further income inequality. Dukatech Solutions Ltd., the company behind the Shop Okoa brand , was started in 2019 by the current CEO, Kelvin Mulama, at the age of 25. Kelvin was sent to a shop by his friend, Brian, with 100 Kenyan shillings (Kshs) in cash: 50 for bread and the balance to settle a debt owed to the shopkeeper. Kelvin explained to the shopkeeper who then pulled out his records book and told Kelvin that Brian owed the shop 100 Kshs, not 50. Kelvin politely insisted the shopkeeper check his records as his friend had calculated carefully before sending him. Revisiting the book, the shopkeeper realised he had made a mistake, confusing one Brian with another. This incident that occurred to Kevin by chance inspired him Kelvin: in the rural settings where he grew up, most shopkeepers are micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and use manual ledgers to manage their customer debt records, in a market where customers often purchase and promise to pay later.‘ Bricolage’ is a French word referring to the skill of using whatever is at hand to create something new. In entrepreneurship, it is particularly used to explain how entrepreneurs ‘make something out of nothing’ in economically-depressed or resource-poor areas , such as SubSaharan Africa.