Kenya lawmakers to investigate ‘social menace’ of loan apps

Over the last few years, millions of Kenyans have downloaded loan apps, some of them developed by US companies. Most of the customers had never borrowed from a bank before. — Reuters

Kenyan lawmakers are starting an investigation of digital credit apps, which one member of the National Assembly called a "social menace” that has destroyed many livelihoods.

The probe will be conducted by the Finance Committee after a petition from Anthony Oluoch, the representative for a constituency in the capital, Nairobi. He said that the dozens of mobile phone lending apps that have sprung up in Kenya in recent years need to be regulated.