I Kenya, salaries alone may not take you where you want to be financially, you have to do something else to supplement your income. As a salaried Kenyan, there are a number of saving and investment options to undertake to accelerate your financial growth. Wealth creation is a journey which require sound financial decisions and multiple income streams.
Since most of the salaried people don’t have enough time to manage their side hustles, they need investment options that don’t need their presence.
Below are various ways to grow your salary in Kenya.
Building of rental property may be capital intensive but it’s number 1 option for salaries workers. Risks associated with rental property are low and income is steady. Before building rental properties, you need land. Buy a plot in a commercially viable area then build it using your savings or loans. Cheap loans can be obtained from your Sacco or a bank.
Rental property require capital of as low as Ksh 500,000. If you have land, Ksh 500,000 can build 8 mabati houses which will yield Ksh 20,000 monthly.
You can also take Asset Finance loan from a bank and share the profits with the bank.
Every employee in Kenya should join a Sacco. Identify a suitable Sacco and become a member. Buy shares and save your money there. Those products will help you take a loan, earn dividends and buy land through the Sacco.
Sacco dividends in Kenya range between 13% and 21% per year. This means that if you save Ksh 3 million in a Sacco, you will earn over Ksh 500,000 yearly.
Saccos also offer the cheapest loans in the country. The interest rate ranges between 8% and 12% per year. They also don’t harass members the way Microfinance institutions harass loan defaulters.
Best Saccos with highest dividends in Kenya
- Nyati Sacco—21% dividend
- Magadi Sacco—20% Dividend
- Tower Sacco—20% Dividend
- Mombasa Port Sacco—20% Dividend
- Yetu Sacco—-18% Dividend
- Bandari Sacco—18% Dividend
- Olin Sacco—17.5% Dividend
- Unison Sacco—17% Dividend
- IG Sacco—17% Dividend
- Winas Sacco—15% Dividend
- Safaricom Sacco—14% Dividend
- Harambee Sacco—13.5% Dividend
- Kenya Police Sacco—13% Dividend
- Shirika Sacco—12.5% Dividend
- UN Sacco—12% Dividend
- Waumini Sacco—12.5% Dividend
- Kimisitu Sacco—12% Dividend
- Stima Sacco—12% Dividend
Money Market Fund are profitable investments which are currently being undertaken by progressive Kenyans. They yield returns of 10% to 20% per year.
Your work is to identify the highest paying Money Market Fund, join and start saving. The minimum investment is Ksh 500 to Ksh 5,000. The company with MMF product will manage your finances and award you interest daily. Daily interest is between 0.8% and 1.8%.
Banks and insurance companies are ideal for Money Market Fund investment option.
Best Money Market Funds in Kenya
Standard Chartered Bank—Minimum Investment Amount (Ksh 500), interest (13%-16% per annum)
Madison Group—Minimum Investment Amount (Ksh5,000), Minimum top up amount (Ksh 1,000), Interest Rate (13%-15% per year)
Britam Insurance—Minimum Investment Amount (Ksh 1,000), Interest Rate (9.5% to 15% per year)
CIC Insurance—Minimum Investment Amount (Ksh 5,000), Minimum top up amount (Ksh 1,000), Interest Rate (9% to 15% per year)
Old Mutual Insurance—Minimum Investment Amount (Ksh 1,000), Minimum top up amount (Ksh 1000), Interest Rate (9%-16% per year)
ICEA Lion—Minimum Investment Amount (Ksh 500), Minimum top up amount(Ksh500), Interest Rate (10% to 17% per year)
APA Insurance—Minimum Investment Amount (Ksh 1,000), Minimum top up amount (Ksh 1,000), Interest Rate (10% to 18% per year)
Jubilee Insurance—Minimum Investment Amount (Ksh 5,000), Minimum top up amount (Ksh 1,000), Interest Rate (9%-15% per year)
Sanlam Insurance—Minimum Investment Amount (Ksh 2,500), Minimum top up amount (Ksh 1,000), Interest Rate (10% to 16% per year)
Farming is one of the best ways to make money from a side hustle. It doesn’t require one to be present all the time to monitor activities in their farm. You can do farming in Narok as you work in Nairobi.
Profitable farming activities in Kenya
- Dairy farming
- Kienyeji chicken farming
- Hass Avocado farming
- Sheep farming
- Goat farming
- Tomato farming
- Watermelon farming
- Sukuma Wiki Farming
- Cabbage farming
- Growing Blue gum trees
- Onion farming
- Sugarcane farming
- Orange & lemon farming
YouTube is another side hustle you can pursue in Kenya and earn extra income. You will be creating videos at night or during weekends when not in the office. If you are working as a journalist or for a big media house, usilalie masikio, create your own YouTube channel and upload videos. In case the company you’re working for fires you, you will have something to fall back to.
To start earning through YouTube, create high quality videos that will attract 4,000 watch hours, get at least 500 subscribers. Your channel should also be at least 12 months old.
How much you’ll be earning from YouTube in Kenya
The income depends on your niche, quality of the videos, source of traffic and authority of your channel. YouTube will pay you per CPM.CPM is the cost per 1000 views. Channel getting 1,000 views will earn Ksh 50 to Ksh 150.
1000 views—Ksh 50 to Ksh 150
10,000 views—Ksh 800 to Ksh 2000
20,000 views—-Ksh 2000 to Ksh 3000
50,000 views—Ksh 8,000 to Ksh 15,000
100,000 views—Ksh 20,000 to Ksh 30,000
500,000 views—Ksh 50,000 to Ksh 90,000
1 million views—Ksh 100,000 to Ksh 180,000
You also have the option of saving your money in fixed deposit account. This will restrict you from withdrawing money anyhow and develop financial discipline. The account will generate interest of 4% to 10% annually. You are allowed to save for 1 month,3 months,6 months,9 months or 12 months.
Best Fixed Deposit Accounts with high interest rates in Kenya
Standard Chartered Bank—-Minimum Investment (Ksh 100,000), Interest Rate (4% to 13% per year)
Stanbic Bank Kenya—Minimum Investment (Ksh20,000), Interest Rate (5% to 15% per year)
I&M Bank Kenya—Minimum Investment (Ksh 50,000), Interest Rate (5% to 12% per year)
Cooperative Bank Kenya—Minimum Investment (Ksh 50,000), Interest Rate (3% to 8% per year)
KCB Bank Kenya—Minimum Investment (Ksh 500), Interest Rate (8.5% per year)
NCBA Bank—Minimum Investment (Ksh 100,000), Interest Rate (6% to 10% per year)
Kingdom Bank—Minimum Investment (Ksh 5,000), Interest Rate (4% per year)
Diamond Trust Bank—Minimum Investment (Ksh 100,000), Interest Rate (5% to 10% per year)
If you don’t want to retire and suffer afterwards, invest in annuities. This is particularly important for permanent and pensionable employees. You will save Ksh 2,000 monthly and when you retire, the insurance company will pay lump sum or monthly income until you die. The lump sum amount can be Ksh 3 million to Ksh 10 million depending on your monthly contributions.
CIC Insurance, Britam Insurance, Jubilee and ICEA Lion offer the best annuities in Kenya.
Treasury Bonds yield interest rate of 16.29 % to 18% per annum, they have the highest interest rate. Insurance companies invest money in Treasury Bonds and then distribute profits to investors. When you buy Unit Trusts, part of the money is invested in Treasury Bond. The insurance company will get interest of 16.29% and award you interest of 12%. The balance will be their profit.
You can also invest in shares. One of the best performing companies is Safaricom.
Land is appreciating asset. If you don’t have any idea on how to run a business, buy land for speculation. There are places in Nairobi where land was valued at Ksh 1 million two years ago, now it’s valued at Ksh 6 million.
Nairobi, Nakuru, Eldoret, Kajiado, Kisii, Thika and Mombasa are some of the best places to buy land for speculation.
Join 52-week challenge in Kenya where you save money weekly. Safaricom offers this option, where you save as little as Ksh 50 and earn interest.
SMEP Microfinance is also another institution with the challenge. At SMEP the starting point is Ksh 25. By the end of week 52, you will have saved Ksh 137,800 or Ksh 68,900 or Ksh 34,450. You save Ksh25,Ksh 50 or Ksh 75 weekly.
Mshwari offers loans, it also offers you a chance to save money and earn interest. You will save as low as Ksh 500.
Mshwari interest rate
Ksh 1 to Ksh 20,000—3% Interest rate per year
Ksh 20001 to Ksh 50,000—5% Interest Rate per year
Above Ksh 50,000—6% Interest Rate per year
