Kenya lost about 1,500 banking and insurance sector jobs in 2017, the first such drop in seven years that also defines how banks reacted to the interest rate capping law introduced in September 2016.
The total number of people working in the financial services sector dropped to 63,500 as most banks shifted from brick-and-mortar operations in favour of technology-based transactions, according to the Economic Survey 2018 that was published last week.
The survey found that the number of financial services (banking and insurance) employees dropped 2.3 per cent in 2017 from 65,000 the previous year, making it the fastest jobs shrinkage ever recorded in the sector.
The banking and insurance sector data is specifically captured under a new metric that was introduced in 2011.