geo/kenya
Learn in this publication how member 4G Capital use machine learning technology to provide scalable credit services for individual clients in Kenya, where the MSME finance gap is over $19 bn, making it the largest in Eastern Africa.
They were able to measure the impact of their working capital credit, and they saw customers increase their revenue by 82% over the course of one year, being 74% of their customers women.
Washington, D.C., November 1st, 2019 – FSD Kenya became the newest member of the SME Finance Forum, a global membership network that brings together financial institutions, technology companies, and development finance institutions to share knowledge, spur innovation, and promote the growth of SMEs.
Washington, D.C., September 13th, 2019 – Equity Bank became the newest member of the SME Finance Forum, a global membership network that brings together financial institutions, technology companies, and development finance institutions to share knowledge, spur innovation, and promote the growth of SMEs.
A packaged financial solution, launched by Co-operative (Co-op) Bank of Kenya, will go towards supporting MSMEs.
Co-op Bank of Kenya has worked with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) over the past year, to understand the inner-workings of the MSME business segment to improve MSMEs. Co-op Bank will offer training programs, forums and financial tools to build and grow “world class entrepreneurs,” according to the article.
MSMEs need loans and grants to thrive in emerging economies. Mastercard's and Unilever's CEOs have a solution. SME Finance Forum member Mastercard is working with Unilever on new lending models for micro merchants in Kenya.
Ajay Banga is the president and CEO of Mastercard. Paul Polman is the CEO of Unilever. Their Fortune piece highlights they ways the two achieve scale and long-term growth for SMEs, by bringing together tools, data insights, and partnerships from across different sectors to change the model of small business financing.
30+ banking and finance professionals attended the Africa SME Finance Forum's study tour on May 14. The tour featured seven financial institutions and fintechs that have best in class, innovative ways of serving SMEs clients.
One of the visits was to Equity Bank Kenya Limited, a commercial bank headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya.
"It was a real life example of what's going on in the industry. It was great to hear their story and to sort of hear how we can go about it as well," said Salima Sikutwa of Madison Bank, Zambia.
The Africa SME Finance Forum 2018 will examine the key challenges faced by MSMEs in Africa, and explore innovative local and global best practice solutions to promote youth entrepreneurship and enhance access to financing for MSMEs. The conference will focus on how Africa is harnessing digital technology to disrupt traditional banking industry and to create new banking infrastructure to fill gaps where there has been a lack of access to financial services.
The Africa SME Finance Forum 2018 will examine the key challenges faced by MSMEs in Africa, and explore innovative local and global best practice solutions to promote youth entrepreneurship and enhance access to financing for MSMEs.
The Africa SME Finance Forum 2018 will examine the key challenges faced by MSMEs in Africa, and explore innovative local and global best practice solutions to promote youth entrepreneurship and enhance access to financing for MSMEs.
The Marketplace, an exclusive opportunity for B2B introductory meetings, had over 100 participants at the Global SME Finance Forum 2017 and is shaping up to be one of the most popular events!
Banks continue to boost financial inclusion in Kenya by providing retail finance to the MSME segment. The banks’ total SME lending portfolio in December 2013 was estimated to be 23.4% of their total lending portfolio but considering that the largest percentage of businesses in Kenya are in the MSME sector, financing to MSMEs should continue to grow. In this briefing note, MicroSave's Christine Gachui explores strategies to be employed by banks in Kenya to increase financing to the MSME segment in the face of competition from formal and informal financial services providers.
