•This comes four months after Group CEO James Mwangi signed a MoU with the East African Community (EAC) to accelerate regional growth and economic resilience.
•This is through a Sh 727.3 billion regional economic stimulus plan.
Equity Group has mooted a medium term plan to fund at least five million Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) as part of its post Covid-19 recovery strategy.
The lender on Wednesday held a digital trade mission focusing on Tanzania and said it is keen to support small businesses, manufacturing and the agriculture sector including the value chain.
This comes four months after Group CEO James Mwangi signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the East African Community (EAC) to accelerate regional growth and economic resilience, through a $6 billion (Sh 727.3 billion) regional economic stimulus plan.
The deal seeks to provide much-needed support for SMEs which account for the majority of the region’s GDP.
The five million MSMEs are expected to create at least five million jobs, Equity Bank (Kenya) commercial director Humphrey Muturi said, noting that one business has the capacity to create five direct jobs and a similar number indirectly.
It further plans to advance credit to at least 100 million customers within the East African Community (EAC) where it has presence in.
“Borrowing businesses will be able to expand productive capacities to drive value chain expansion and employment, whilst consumer borrowing will enable households meet their needs and investment plans,” Muturi said during a virtual meeting.
About 65 per cent of the credit will be extended to MSMEs, agriculture sector and value chain (30%) and manufacturing and value addition (15%).
The lender, which has made inroads into the regional market has also set aside about $2 billion (Sh 242.4 billion) for regional entrepreneurs.
It is working with development financiers among them the International Finance Corporation (IFC), African Development Bank, and European lenders for on-lending to the targeted businesses.
To support businesses beyond the EAC, the Nairobi Securities Exchange listed lender has a Sh500 billion kitty targeting Kenyan and South African businesses keen to trade or invest on the continent.
The bank is open to lending entities that want to set up manufacturing, construction, health and investment firms, facilitate value addition through processing and packaging and finance export or import businesses.
East African Business Council (EABC) chief executive John Bosco Kalisa yesterday termed the EAC region as an investment hub, offering a market of up to 283.7 million people.
EAC was recently termed the world’s fastest reforming in terms of business regulations, and the most resilient during the Covid-19 pandemic by the World Bank.
Kalisa cited ease of starting and doing business, easy cross border movement, good road network and supportive infrastructure as among catalysts to growth of investments.
“You cannot go wrong investing in the region,” Kalisa said.
Meanwhile, Equity is keen to pump more funding into supporting Tanzania’s agriculture sector, saying it is well positioned to be the agriculture and manufacturing gateway to East, Central and Southern Africa.
This is owing to its strategic location and connection to eight neighbouring countries, and its membership to both the EAC and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) trading blocs.