Gen Zs biggest Kenyan consumers as spending set to hit Ksh.4.4 trillion: report

Gen Z is emerging as the biggest spenders in Kenya, according to new research projecting that over 17 million consumers in the generation born between 1997 and 2012 will spend Ksh.4.4 trillion (US$34 billion) on goods and services in 2025.

World Data Lab (WDL) estimates that Gen Z will remain the wealthiest generation until 2040, even though Generation Alpha – those born between 2013 and 2025 – have this year become more populous than them. 

Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu will command the majority of consumer spend in 2025, with Meru, Mombasa and Thika emerging as the fastest growing spending centres by 2035.

The data analytics company, which specialises in consumer spending and demographic forecasting, released the new data in its “Gen Z and the Future of the African Consumer” report.

Across the continent, Kenya, with an estimated Gen Z population of 17 million, is among the top five African countries where the continent’s spending is concentrated.

This is behind Nigeria, where the 72-million-member age group is expected to spend $256 billion in 2025; Egypt (30 million Gen Zs, $116 billion expenditure); South Africa (17 million, $56 billion); and Ethiopia (41 million, $43 billion).

Nairobi alone has 972,000 Gen Zs and is sixth among the African cities projected to see the highest Gen Z spending in 2025, behind Cairo, Lagos, Johannesburg, Alexandria and Accra.

WDL projects that Gen Z’s spending dominance in Africa will continue over the next decade.

This is unlike the rest of the world, where the dominant generations are currently Millennials and Gen X, the two generations born between 1965 and 1996, says the data company. 

“As a group, Gen Z is currently the largest economic bloc who have access to more disposable cash than their parents but who also have higher aspirations for their spending,” WDL’s CEO, Wolfgang Fengler, said.

Additionally, the report says 39.9 per cent of the typical Gen Z African consumer’s spending in 2025 will go towards food, followed by housing (14.9%), transport (9.6%), clothing (6.3 %) and furnishings at 5 per cent.