Kenya’s Stanbic Bank Supports Over 45,000 Women Entrepreneurs and Businesses to Promote Financial Inclusion

Over the past three years, Stanbic Bank Kenya has had an impact on more than 45,000 female business owners by promoting financial inclusion and offering creative solutions that have allowed Dadas to access Kshs 6.9 billion in credit.

The bank has also given grants totaling more than Ksh 40 million and credit guarantee schemes worth over Ksh 1 billion. The African Guarantee Fund (AGF) and the Government of Kenya are partners in the bank’s credit guarantee program, and talks to include additional parties are now in progress. Stanbic Bank is working with the United States African Development Foundation and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ) to provide grants and catalytic finance (USADF).

The innovative financial products offered by Stanbic Bank, like as digital lending, Unayo, M-Jeki, and Stansure, have helped more women company owners access financing and useful financial products. The bank also offers unsecured loans for women and digital cash advances.

In conjunction with a few select car dealers, Stanbic Bank offers 100% Vehicle Asset Financing (VAF) at discounted rates, together with DADA-specific motor insurance and a 60-day grace period, to assist women in acquiring assets. Additionally, the bank offers no-fee mortgage financing at a rate of 105 percent.

The 4th President of the Republic of Malawi, H.E.Hon Dr. Joyce Banda, commended Stanbic Bank’s commitment to invest in women’s economic empowerment as a step in the right direction as it contributes to gender equality, poverty eradication, and inclusive economic growth in her remarks at DADA’s 3rd Anniversary, a celebration of the milestones that have positively impacted women-led businesses through financial inclusion. She continued by saying that women, whether working in farms, enterprises, start-ups, or as employees, contribute significantly to economies.

She commended the bank for making a positive difference in and transforming the lives of women, saying, “It is crucial to continuously support programs which promote women’s ability to secure respectable jobs, achieve financial freedom, and accumulate assets which are key determinants of growth and development.”

Prof. Margaret Kobia, EGH, Cabinet Secretary for Public Service and Gender, Hon. Betty Maina, EGH, Cabinet Secretary for Industrialization, Trade and Enterprise Development, Ms. Anna Mutavati, UN Women Country Representative, and Mr. Charles Mudiwa, Chief Executive Officer of Stanbic Bank Kenya, also attended the Nairobi event.

According to Mr. Mudiwa, Stanbic Bank felt privileged to have the chance to assist women through its women’s banking solution, DADA (Dare to Aspire Dare to Achieve).

Additionally, the bank is currently collaborating with the Ministry of Industrialization, Trade, and Enterprise Development (MoITED) and County Governments to promote entrepreneurship, improve citizens’ employability through digital literacy and upskilling, career development, and the provision of funding (grants) and access to job markets.

The alliance, which went into effect at the beginning of 2021, has assisted young people, people with disabilities, and women entrepreneurs in recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic’s detrimental economic effects.

The Women Empowerment Principles (WEPS) are also signed by Stanbic Bank, demonstrating the organization’s continuous commitment to supporting women. The UN Global Compact and UN Women created the WEPs, a collection of guidelines for businesses on how to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment in the workplace, market, and community.

As an organization dedicated to doing more than just offering financial solutions, Stanbic is a catalyst for economic transformation and the creation of financially sound solutions to societal and environmental problems, driving economic growth and human development and improving community life.

The bank’s strategic value drivers are an essential implementing agent to successfully embed Social, Economic, and Environmental (SEE) factors in the work it conducts. The goal is to produce shared value benefiting society while attaining targeted financial returns.

The bank has committed to a number of other voluntary global standards regarding responsible business practice, including the UN Principles for Responsible Banking, the Equator Principles, the UN Women He4She initiative, the Sourcing2Equal Kenya (S2E), the United Nations Sustainable Goals (UNSDGs), and the African Union’s Agenda 2063, while concentrating on the seven impact areas covered by the SEE.

The bank has been offering training and capacity building to help women develop, and thus far, more than 17,000 women have benefited from these efforts. This has primarily been distributed through venues for education and information that span numerous industries as well as networking events with like inclined and seasoned business owners.

More than 16,000 women received free cancer screenings as a result of wellness workshops run by Stanbic that also included mental health and cancer screening.

Important female entrepreneurs who shared their entrepreneurial journeys, successes, and lessons included Ms. Flora Mutahi, CEO Melvin, Marsh International Limited; Ms. Winnie Ngumi, Managing Director & CEO Space & Style; Ms. Pamela Makokha, CEO, Meditrust Hospital; and Ms. Margaret Kamau, owner, Zarusa Trends.