The African Development Bank approved a $8 million-targeted financing to Kenya\u2019s Credit Bank for lending exclusively to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in construction, agriculture, renewable energy and manufacturing.<\/p>\n
The loan, which has a five-year maturity with a two-year grace period, marks the first proposal under the Bank\u2019s new initiative to prop-up SMEs in Africa. Credit Bank is privately-owned and dedicated to propelling SMEs\u2019 growth through financing and capacity building initiatives.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is financially sound and, as an adequately capitalized tier-3 financial institution, has a strong track record of SMEs, providing working capital and trade finance facilities. As such it is well-positioned to succeed in providing innovative longer term financial solutions to SMEs along several value chains including strategical financial solutions in Kenya,\u201d Stefan Nalletanby, the Bank Group director for financial sector development, told the Board.<\/p>\n
Nalletanby said that Credit Bank has the supporting infrastructure and a strong presence in key economic regions within Kenya and is expected to support several small businesses in rural areas, thereby producing substantial development impact.<\/p>\n
The over-arching objective of the project is to provide access to finance to SMEs, the \u201cmissing middle\u201d in Kenya, thereby reducing their financing gap. The facility\u2019s proceeds will support transactions aimed at improving their productive capacities thereby enhancing entrepreneurship, job creation, income generation, and sustainable growth, leading to a multiplier effect on the country\u2019s economic growth,\u201d according to the Bank.<\/p>\n
The facility also fits well with four of the Bank\u2019s High 5 strategic priorities of \u201cImprove the quality of life for the people of Africa,\u201d \u201cfeed Africa;\u201d \u201cLight and power Africa,\u201d and \u201cIndustrialize Africa\u201d. It also aligns with the financial sector development policy and strategy and will contribute to the Bank\u2019s Jobs for Youth Programme and the Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa program.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The African Development Bank approved a $8 million-targeted financing to Kenya\u2019s Credit Bank for lending exclusively to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in construction, agriculture, renewable energy and manufacturing. The loan, which has a five-year maturity with a two-year grace period, marks the first proposal under the Bank\u2019s new initiative to prop-up SMEs in Africa. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":410,"featured_media":39749,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6095,6030],"tags":[6094,6419,6388,6370],"yoast_head":"\n