Key Insight BRIDGING THE FINANCE GAP: OPPORTUNITY EDUFINANCE TRAINING SPARKS LOAN READINESS AMONG WOMEN SCHOOL LEADERS IN KENYA July 2025
Women-owned schools play a critical role in expanding access to quality education across Kenya. However, many women school owners face unique challenges in accessing loans to grow and sustain their schools. This is often due to limited collateral such as land or property, which is less commonly owned by women along with stricter scrutiny from financial institutions. In some cases, women lack financial records or training, which further limits their ability to meet lending criteria. Opportunity EduFinance works to strengthen these schools by partnering with school owners and financial institutions to improve financial management skills and access to capital. Through the School Leadership Academy (SLA) training workshops, school owners gain new tools to manage school finances and explore loan products designed to support school growth. This report presents survey data from 608 school owners, including 289 women, across the Nyanza, Western, and Coast regions of Kenya. This survey captured responses from both male and female school owners. In many cases, data did not show significant differences in responses, suggesting that data from women participants in the SLA workshops is consistent with broader trends among school owners. However, many of Opportunity EduFinance’s partner financial institutions highlight their long-term goals and some key challenges in reaching female borrowers. This brief therefore focuses on findings from women school owners, with the aim of highlighting key learnings relevant to this group. Ultimately, these insights will be shared with financial institutions interested in expanding their client base to target more women and improving their strategic approaches to gender and social inclusion.
BRI D G I NG TH E F I NANCE G AP
(Above) A school leader at a non-state school in Kenya
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