Afronomics · Learn
Learn money, from the basics
Short lessons in plain words on saving, borrowing and how the economy reaches your pocket, wherever you are in Africa. The ideas are the same from Cairo to Cape Town; the worked examples use real figures from central banks across the continent, with Kenya’s in most detail for now. Each lesson takes three or four minutes. Then try it with your own money in the calculators, in any currency.
Making what you put aside work harder
Saving
- 1Small savings grow: how compound interest works
3 min · Compound interest means you earn interest on your interest.
- 2Money market funds, explained: yield, tax and risk
4 min · A money market fund invests in short-term, lower-risk paper and lets you withdraw within days.
- 3What is a Treasury bill, and how can I buy one?
4 min · You pay less than the bill’s face value now and receive the full face value when it matures; the difference is your return.
- 4How to lend to your government: buying bills and bonds in Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and Tanzania
5 min · Nigeria’s October 2026 FGN Savings Bond pays 13.071% for two years or 14.071% for three, from ₦5,000.
Knowing what a loan really costs
Borrowing
- 1The real cost of a loan: flat rate, reducing balance and fees
4 min · A 15% flat-rate loan costs about as much as a 26.6% reducing-balance loan.
Rates, prices and your currency
How the economy reaches your pocket
- 1What the Central Bank Rate is, and why it reaches your pocket
4 min · The Central Bank of Kenya’s Monetary Policy Committee sets the Central Bank Rate; it stood at 8.75% on 5 October 2026.
- 2Inflation and your money: the real return
3 min · The real return is roughly the rate you earn minus inflation.
- 3Exchange rates: what a stronger or weaker shilling means for you
3 min · “KES per USD” going up means the shilling is weaker: each dollar costs more shillings.
- 4Why lending to one African government pays 6% and another 25%
4 min · One-year Treasury bills in ten African markets range from 6.29% (Tanzania) to 25.67% (Egypt).
Field guides for desks and treasuries
For professionals
- 1Who sets what: CBK, CMA, NSE, and the National Treasury
9 min · The Central Bank of Kenya sets the policy rate and supervises banks. It is not the listing authority for equities.
- 2SASRA, IRA, and the perimeter beyond commercial banks
7 min · A large share of household deposits and credit in Kenya sits outside commercial-bank licences.
Try it
How much will my savings grow?
Works in any currency. The quick rates are Kenya’s today, after tax; type your own country’s rate.
You will have
64,661
You put in
60,000
Interest earned
4,661
Holds one rate for the whole period and adds interest monthly; real rates move. Information, not advice.
Try it
What will this loan cost me?
Works in any currency: flat rate and reducing balance, side by side, for the same headline rate.
| If the 14.34% is charged | Monthly payment | Total interest | Total repaid |
|---|---|---|---|
| On a reducing balance | 8,994.72 | 7,936.61 | 107,936.61 |
| Flat, on the full amount | 9,528.33 | 14,340.00 | 114,340.00 |
A flat 14.34% costs the same as about 25.5% on a reducing balance. For comparison, Kenyan banks’ average lending rate is 14.34% (reducing balance).
Fees, insurance and excise duty are extra. Ask the lender for the total you will repay. Information, not advice.
Words
Glossary, in English and Kiswahili
- Interest · Riba
- What a lender charges, or a saver earns, for the use of money, usually as a percentage a year.
- Savings · Akiba
- Money set aside rather than spent.
- Loan · Mkopo
- Money borrowed that must be repaid, usually with interest and fees.
- Compound interest · Riba mchanganyiko
- Earning interest on earlier interest as well as on what you put in.
- Flat rate · Riba ya kiwango bapa
- Interest charged on the full amount borrowed for the whole term, even as you repay.
- Reducing balance · Salio linalopungua
- Interest charged only on what you still owe; cheaper than the same flat rate.
- Treasury bill · Hati ya hazina
- A loan to the government for 91, 182 or 364 days, bought below face value.
- Treasury bond · Hati fungani ya serikali
- A longer loan to the government, from one to thirty years, usually paying interest twice a year.
- Money market fund · Mfuko wa soko la fedha
- A fund that pools savers’ money into short-term, lower-risk paper.
- Yield · Mapato
- What an investment earns, expressed as a percentage a year.
- Withholding tax · Kodi ya zuio
- Tax taken from interest before you receive it; 15% on most interest for Kenyan residents.
- Central Bank Rate · Riba ya Benki Kuu
- The policy rate set by the Central Bank of Kenya; other rates follow it.
- Inflation · Mfumuko wa bei
- How fast prices rise, usually measured over a year.
- Real return · Faida halisi
- What you earn after taking inflation away: whether your money buys more or less.
- Exchange rate · Kiwango cha ubadilishaji fedha
- The price of one currency in another, such as shillings per dollar.
- Fee · Ada
- A charge on top of, or instead of, interest. Count it in the total you repay.
- Security, collateral · Dhamana
- Something a lender can take if a loan is not repaid.
- Budget · Bajeti
- A plan for what comes in and what goes out.
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