EFFECT OF FINANCIAL LITERACY ON FINANCIAL GROWTH IN SACCOs IN KWALE COUNTY

Abstract

The general objective of this study was to analyze the extent to which financial literacy affect the financial growth in SACCOs in Kwale County. To achieve the objective, the study used descriptive survey design. The target population was 15281 members drawn from 80 SACCOs licensed and operating in Kwale County. Data was collected using structured questionnaires from 397 out of 459 respondents, selected using stratified random sampling. Data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Pearson’s correlation test at a level of significance of alpha = .05 indicated that financial knowledge and financial training had a significant and weak positive correlation with financial growth of the SACCOs in Kwale County, while financial attitude and financial behavior had a significant and moderate positive correlation with financial growth of the SACCOs. Regression results revealed that financial knowledge, financial attitude, financial behavior and financial training had significant and positive influence on financial growth in SACCOs in Kwale County. The study concluded that financial knowledge, financial attitude, financial behavior and financial training had a statistically significant and positive influence on financial growth in SACCOs in Kwale County. The study findings could be useful to the County Government of Kwale through the department of trade and co-operatives in developing new initiatives for financial education of SACCO members in order to improve the financial growth of the SACCO industry and thereby enhance the general economic development of the County. The study findings could also be of benefit to the National Government through the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Co-operatives, State department of co-operatives, and SASRA in improving the existing policy and regulatory framework to support the financial education of SACCO members as part of the strategies to alleviate poverty. The study findings could also be useful to scholars and researchers as a source of reference for conducting further studies on the factors influencing the financial growth in SACCOs. The study could be replicated in different sectors so as to check findings with the aim of generating additional data on the impact of financial literacy on financial growth. Key Words: Financial Knowledge, Attitude, Training, Behavior, Financial Growth CITATION: Mwatondo, H. J., & Wekesa, M. W. (2020). Effect of financial literacy on financial growth in SACCOs in Kwale County. The Strategic Journal of Business & Change Management, 7 (4), 697 – 713.