Parents with learners from Kindergarten to university can now access loans for school fees through the Buy Now Pay Later firm, Aspira.

This is through the Aspira Soma Education Loan facility.

Aspira Kenya COO Irshad Muttur said existing customers and newly onboarded clients can access the credit.

The Soma loan empowers parents to offer their children quality education.

“Kenyans place a high premium of education, and this facility is designed to solve the challenges in paying school fees for students and aims to ensure funds are available when the parents, guardians and sponsors need them.”

“Getting timely access to education financing should not be a problem especially when it affects the welfare and future of your child,” he said.

“Soma Education Loan is bridging that gap by empowering parents in terms of convenient and affordable finance so that our children can stay in school and learn.”

The borrowers can repay the loans during the academic year at a reasonable interest rate of about 2% monthly.

The third term of instruction for students in elementary and high schools is scheduled to begin on August 29.

The next month, more than 140,000 and 300,000 students are anticipated to enroll in colleges and universities, respectively, with most parents expressing concern about their children's inability to pay tuition due to the "tough economic times."

Aspira Kenya was introduced in 2018, enabling Kenyans to purchase goods and services on credit with a free credit assessment, ranging from travel and insurance to household goods and personal devices.

The maximum amount of personal loans is Kes 500,000, but SMEs can access up to Kes 3 million to expand their businesses.