KES 20B to Deepen and broaden access to Capital & Credit for business growth

Today afternoon, The Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Investments, Trade and Industry, Hon. Moses K. Kuria presided a meeting between the World Bank and the  Board of Kenya Development Corporation (KDC) where they discussed, among other things, how to fast track ongoing world bank projects in the country aimed at deepening and broadening access to capital and credit. The World Bank has partnered with KDC to scale up existing domestic capital and credit by offering over KES 20b through four projects targeting pastoralists, jobs transformation and entrepreneurship.

Among the ongoing World Bank projects include Kenya Industry and Entrepreneurship (KIEP) Project; De-risking, Inclusion and Value Enhancement of Pastoral Economies in the Horn of Africa (DRIVE); Kenya Jobs and Economic Transformation (KJET) Project; and Supporting Access to Finance and Enterprise Recovery (SAFER)Project.

The DRIVE project supports the pastoralists communities through insurance, digital accounts, capital, loans and markets. SAFER is an enterprise recovery project that targets MSMEs that have been negatively impacted by difficult economic conditions like during the COVID period. KIEP has been ongoing and targets industrialisation in the SME sector. KJET enhances Kenya’s competitiveness in the MSME sector through targeted business climate reforms that will yield more and better jobs.

Present in the meeting was Ahmed Rostom & Leah Kiwara from the World Bank; Abubakar Hassan Abubakar - Principal Secretary for Investment Promotion; Sakwa Bunyasi - KDC Board Chairman among others.