The answer is that in Kenya, and in some other African countries, 'sugar' relationships seem to have become both more common and more visible: what once was hidden is now out in the open - on campuses, in bars, and all over Instagram. You only have to visit the student districts of Nairobi, one recent graduate told the BBC, to see how pervasive the sponsor culture has become.
'On a Friday night just go sit outside Box House and the see what kind of cars drive by - drivers of ministers, and politicians sent to pick up young girls,' says Silas Nyanchwani, who studied at the University of Nairobi. Until recently there was no data to indicate how many young Kenyan women are involved in sugar relationships.
But this year the Busara Centre for Behavioural Economics conducted a study for BBC Africa in which they questioned 252 female university students between the ages of 18 and 24.
