On the surface, it looks harmless. After all, what is the worst that could happen?
A new phone paid off in small instalments. A fridge delivered today as the payments get sorted later. The best part is that there are no bank queues or paperwork. A loan, if you may, but without all the Bureaucracy.
Buy Now, Pay Later (also known as BNPL) has slipped into Kenyan life with the softness of a convenience and not the weight of a loan, which explains why it has grown so fast.
For the longest time, many Africans took quiet pride in the fact that you owned what you paid for. A sofa bought in cash was yours, without conditions. A phone paid for upfront could not be switched off at the supermarket counter while you are paying for goods. There was dignity in saving and buying only when the money was complete. Credit, when it existed, was treated with suspicion. Always as a last resort, not a lifestyle. Contrast that to places like the United States, where ownership often comes with an asterisk. In those countries, on paper you do have everything – but at what cost? What is the price you pay for owning cars and homes, or even just everyday purchases when they can be reclaimed the moment payments falter? Now, however, that old certainty is slowly dissolving. Across the continent, and especially in urban Africa, the line between owning and owing is blurring. And with it, a deeply held cultural relationship with money is slowly but surely being rewritten.
Across Kenya, BNPL products offered through mobile lenders, fintech apps, retailers and even telco ecosystems are changing how people spend and think about money. For many, it feels like breathing room in an economy that rarely gives any while for others, it is the beginning of a debt spiral they didn’t realise they were entering.
The Appeal of Later in a High Cost Life
Kenya’s cost of living has been rising steadily, that is not in doubt. It is obvious to see how expensive things have become while incomes (especially informal and gig based ones) have not kept pace. Rent is due whether work was good or not(!) and food prices don’t wait for payday. God forbid an emergency comes knocking on your doorstep, because Emergencies do not consult your bank balance.
BNPL thrives in this gap.
Unlike traditional loans, BNPL rarely announces itself as debt. There is no long approval process or intimidating interest rates displayed upfront. There is no stern reminder of obligation. The language is gentle: split payments, flexible, interest free, small amounts. It feels modern and ohh so responsible.
For young Kenyans in particular, BNPL fits effortlessly into digital life. It mirrors subscription culture and the idea that ownership no longer has to be immediate or absolute. You don’t need the full amount today, just enough credibility to be trusted.
The danger of BNPL however, is not usually one big decision. It is many small ones. A phone here and groceries there. A laptop for work, maybe? Or better yet, household appliance. Each payment seems manageable on its own, right? But BNPL products often stack across platforms, apps and vendors. What begins as convenience turns into fragmentation. You now have multiple obligations, different due dates and automatic deductions.
Before you know it, later arrives all at once.
The thing with BNPL is that unlike traditional loans, debt can be easy to lose track of because it doesn’t feel heavy until it is. Missed payments can and will trigger penalties and restrictions on future credit. Think negative credit listings- think CRB – sometimes without the borrower fully understanding how they got there.
This, by the way, is what we call Lipa Mdogo Mdogo…..
The Regulation Lag
One of the reasons BNPL has expanded so quickly in Kenya is that regulation has struggled to keep up. BNPL sits in a grey zone. It is not always clearly defined as credit and not always regulated like loans. Consumer protection, transparency around fees and clarity on credit reporting vary widely across providers. It becomes difficult for users to know what rules apply and what rights they have.
In this part of the world, lack of clarity is heaven sent to platforms because it benefits them more than it does the people. Without strong oversight, BNPL risks recreating the very problems Kenya has faced with digital lending before some of which include over indebtedness, opaque terms and borrowers trapped in cycles they did not even consent to.
While It is tempting to frame BNPL as a problem of personal responsibility, here is why that would simply be missing the point.
BNPL is not thriving because Kenyans are reckless. It is thriving because the economy is unforgiving. The truth is, cash flow matters more than savings. It tells a deeper story about how people are coping – by postponing pain, spreading costs, choosing immediate dignity over long term strain. In that sense, BNPL is less about consumption and more about resilience… even if it sometimes becomes a trap.
Since BNPL in Kenya is not going away, (it is actually projected to expand into more retail sectors and embedded into financial ecosystems) the question now becomes whether it will evolve responsibly. But, that will depend on stronger regulation, clearer disclosures, better financial literacy and honest conversations about debt that does not look like debt. It will also depend on whether the economy itself begins to offer more stability, so that “later” is not the only option people have.
Until then, BNPL will continue to walk a thin line between relief and risk, empowerment and exposure.
We have a swahili saying that goes “kukopa ni sherehe, kulipa ni matanga” (I am not sure if this is something that I came up with in my head or if it actually exists). Still, in Kenya today, buying now is easy. It’s in paying later when the real party starts.
