Unilever, KCB and Mastercard Partner to Drive Retailer’s Growth

Unilever East Africa, KCB Bank, and Mastercard have rolled-out a program aimed at helping small and medium-sized businesses across Kenya.

The program, according to the three giants is set to help the retailers to overcome the cash constraints that limit their ability to buy and sell more Unilever products, thereby enabling them to grow their businesses.

The program named ‘Jaza Duka’, which is Swahili for ‘fill the kiosks,’ is an innovative solution that has enabled thousands of retailers to purchase goods on credit, interest-free for up to 17 days.

Almost 18,000 stores in Kenya have already signed up for “Jaza Duka”, with a planned roll out to 30,000 stores by the end of 2019.

The initiative combines distribution data from Unilever and analysis by Mastercard, on how much inventory a store has bought from Unilever over time. The results from the analysis are used to provide a micro-credit eligibility recommendation KCB Bank.

Once the micro-credit line from KCB is approved, the store owner is able to increase their purchases of product from what they can buy with cash on hand to what they can actually sell. The credit line from KCB is provided through a secure Mastercard digital payment solution.

Responsible lending underpins this program. Retailers receive training funded by Mastercard’s philanthropic arm – the Centre for Inclusive Growth, on the importance of using credit responsibly.

ALSO READ: KCB Bank Emerges 13th in The Top 100 Digital Banks Globally

After an initial phase of face to face training, during which 5000 stores were trained, a digitally scalable mobile-based training program, provided by Arifu, a Nairobi based company, was released in December 2018.

Already, 5000 retailers have access to this free training and this is set to rapidly grow.

Luck Ochieng, Unilever Sales Director for East Africa echoed benefits of the partnership terming it a milestone in Kenya’s financial inclusivity journey aiming to empower more retailers to grow their businesses.

“Jaza Duka, in line with Unilever’s sustainable business agenda, is a true testament of what business partnerships can do to help lift Kenyans out of poverty and eventually grow the economy,” he said.

“Providing access to credit is an important enabler of growth for these micro-retailers,” says Adam Jones Mastercard, Head of East Africa Region.

“But Jaza Duka stands out because of our equal focus on retailer education. Understanding how to use credit responsibly is just the start. Over time this training will equip retailers with a range of skills to help them grow their businesses,” he added.

Unilever, which counts Sunlight, Royco, Vaseline and OMO amongst some of its most popular household products, has successfully conducted pilot tests at several locations spread across the country.

The involvement of KCB, East Africa’s biggest lender by assets and payments company Mastercard is expected to provide added thrust and better analysis of customer data and provide input for better underwriting.

“There’s an opportunity to set these businesses up for long-term growth by bringing together the tools and data from different industries to change the model of small business financing. We see this partnership as a big plus in boosting our role as catalysts of trade and doing business in East Africa,” said KCB Bank Kenya Head of Channels Dennis Njau. “This is part of our commitment to simplify and transform the lives of our customers to enable their progress,” she said.

ALSO READ: 47 Needy Students Living with Disabilities among KCB Foundation’s Scholarship Beneficiaries

Jaza Duka initiative brings a unique combination of technology and know-how to help shop owners build a better future and serve their customers who are themselves on a path towards financial inclusion.

It aims to provide access to productive, affordable, and reliable means of accessing the stock of goods for the growing number of small-scale traders in rural areas and businesses around the country.

The proprietary technology platform and business model enables the financing, monetization, and management of dispatched stock, and in the process unlocking access to credit and expanding sales.

ALSO READ: 10,000 Young Entrepreneurs to Benefit from KCB’s 2jiajiri Program