How Can I Make Money as a Student in Kenya?
You are at college or university in Kenya. Between lectures you have some time and a phone, and you want to make money without your studies suffering for it.
When you finish reading, you will be able to judge a way of making money against what is particular to Kenya. You will recognise the sign the authorities warn about, and you will have a short list to check any offer against before you agree to it.
We do guided affiliation, which is open to students in Kenya. It is one way among others, and the others are not wrong for being different.
What is particular to studying in Kenya
Kenya's 2010 Constitution makes Kiswahili the national language, and Kiswahili and English the official languages.
For making money, that means two languages to do it in. The one an offer asks for is worth checking before you start.
DataReportal's Digital 2026 report for Kenya, published in November 2025, counts 23.4 million internet users, which is 40.5 percent of the population. It also counts 77.5 million mobile connections, more than the population, because many people use more than one.
On Meta's advertising tools, Facebook reaches 17.0 million people in Kenya and Instagram 3.95 million. Ookla's data to August 2025 puts the median fixed download speed at 15.44 Mbps. The report gives no median speed for mobile networks.
Read together, these figures say that fewer than half of the people in Kenya are online, and that Facebook reaches far more of them than Instagram.
Ways to make money that fit around classes in Kenya
Every option below gets the same four questions: which language, who it reaches, what connection, and when it fits around lectures. The order means nothing.
Tutoring
In which language: Kiswahili or English, whichever the person you help needs.
Where it reaches people: near where you live or study. That includes people who are not online, and in Kenya they are more than half.
Which connection: none, if you teach in person.
When: fixed hours, often evenings or weekends.
A small service sold online
In which language: translation between Kiswahili and English, or writing in the language the client wants.
Where it reaches people: where your buyers are online, and in Kenya Facebook reaches far more of them than Instagram.
Which connection: text needs little. For heavier files, the only published median is the fixed one, so check the connection you actually have.
When: in blocks of time, around deadlines the client sets.
Short videos for brands
In which language: the one the brand's audience speaks.
Where it reaches people: wherever the brand wants the videos.
Which connection: video files are heavy. Check what your own connection can send before you agree to a deadline.
When: when you have a quiet moment to film, which a short break between lectures rarely gives.
Guided affiliation
In which language: basic English, enough to read a caption and answer a message.
Where it reaches people: Instagram, the smaller of the two Meta platforms in Kenya. No followers of your own are needed.
Which connection: the videos come ready to post, and you post them from your phone.
When: a few short moments in the day, around 15 minutes in all.
For side hustles ranked on five points for a student week, see side hustles for college students you can do from home.
A warning to keep in mind before you say yes to an offer
On 28 September 2026, as Capital FM reported, Kenya's Directorate of Criminal Investigations warned about investment schemes that promise quick returns. Those who put their savings into them can lose them. The warning describes people drawn in while looking for another way to make money.
What to watch for is being asked to buy something or to make a deposit, whether it comes at the start or later.
From that comes one rule. Turn down any offer that asks you to buy something or to deposit anything, at any point. The rule applies to every offer, and to ours as well.
To look at an offer more closely, start with the five questions in starting a side hustle with no experience.
Guided affiliation, for students in Kenya
Students in Kenya can join guided affiliation. Our affiliates currently post on Instagram, on an account we create with them that stays apart from their own.
The content is made by us, captions included, and you need no followers of your own. You post from your phone, at the hours you pick, for about 15 minutes a day.
Posting has to stay regular. It is meant as a small extra next to your studies, not something to fill your days.
There is nothing to buy and nothing to deposit, at any point. The rule from the warning holds for us too.
Before you say yes: a checklist
- It fits around my lectures.
- I have checked the connection it needs, and I have it.
- I have checked the language it asks.
- Nobody asks me to buy anything or to deposit anything, now or later.