Absa Bank Kenya has partnered with the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KNCCI) in a bid to enable more than 1,000 SMEs in the Western Kenya region benefit from a business empowerment tour.
The tour, which will traverse Kisumu, Kisii, Bungoma, Trans Nzoia and Uasin Gishu Counties, officially kicked off in Kisumu City during a stakeholder engagement session with the Kisumu County Government and business communities from the lakeside.
The bank has disbursed over KES50 billion over the last five years in loans through the Wezesha Biashara Program repositioning it as an enabler for small, medium and micro enterprises, and as a result recording double-digit growth from the sector in the last one year alone.
Also, the bank has impacted over 20,000 women businesses in the last one year through the Women in Business proposition that seeks to empower over 1 million women by providing unsecured lending of up to KES 10 million, payable over 5 years for existing borrowers and KES 7 million for new borrowers payable in 4 years.
Absa Bank Kenya PLC Managing Director Mr. Yusuf Omari said the campaign is aimed at building the capacity of businesses in the Western region as part of Absa’s commitment to continue working with the people of Kenya to achieve shared success and bring new possibilities to life.
“We shall be hosting close to 200 SMEs in Kisumu with a keen focus on identifying and exploiting opportunities for growth. As an enabler of business, we understand that empowering SMEs makes a substantial contribution to livelihoods and fosters inclusive growth for the region,” said Mr. Omari.
Earlier this year, in partnership with the KNCCI, we upskilled over 1000 women entrepreneurs in Nairobi, Coast, Western, Nyanza and the Rift Valley regions, training them on business fundamentals such as sustainability, fundraising, book-keeping, and networking to transform them into profitable operations.