Stanbic Bank Creates Shared Value By Driving Kenya’s Economic Growth

Stanbic Bank Kenya has today released its 2020 Report to Society. This is the bank’s annual integrated sustainability report which highlights its social, economic and environmental impact in the country.

The Report to Society highlights the Bank’s contribution to driving the country’s economic growth in seven key areas which include Education, Job Creation and Enterprise Development, Financial Inclusion, Health, Infrastructure, Trade and Investment as well as Climate Change and Sustainable Financing.

It also demonstrates the institution’s objective to create shared value by supporting the core pillars of the society while also realizing targeted financial returns.

Highlighting the key achievements on the report, Stanbic Bank restructured loans to the value of 40 billion shillings, extended repayment holiday to 7,203 clients and lowered interest rates saving customers 665 million shillings.

These speak to the Bank’s support in ensuring Financial Inclusion. On Infrastructure, Trade and Investment, the Bank issued 1 billion shillings as guarantees in support of transportation infrastructure development.

On Trade and Investment, Stanbic Bank provided unsecured short-term financing for trade to Small and Medium Enterprises (SME’s) backed by 1 billion in secured guarantees.

Over the last year, the bank has been on a deliberate journey to improve the livelihoods of many through the launch of the Stanbic Kenya Foundation.

The Foundation has achieved significant milestones along the way and made an impact in Education, Job Creation and Enterprise Development, through the launch of the Accelerate Program.

The Program seeks to position Kenyan businesses for success by providing individuals and enterprises with digital literacy and career development training, as well as funding and access to job markets.

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So far, over 21,000 SMEs and individuals have benefited from the programs and are able to position their businesses better in a digital world. This was achieved through a Public Private Partnership between the Stanbic Kenya Foundation, the Ministry of Industrialization, Trade and Enterprise Development and Microsoft Kenya.

Through their Financial Fitness Academy (FFA), the Bank has supported individuals and SMEs to understand how to better manage their wealth. The Bank partnered with Microsoft and established the e-learning platform www.futurenidigital.org for community training as well as up-skilling people who have lost jobs due to Covid-19.

“Over the years, we have been able to empower individuals to do more and become digitally proficient, reskill the Kenyan workforce who lost their jobs during the pandemic and further ensure SMEs remain connected to their customers and have access to new markets,” said Pauline Mbayah, Stanbic Bank Kenya Head of Foundation.

Another key milestone that the Stanbic Kenya Foundation has achieved under Financial Inclusion is its partnership with the United States African Development Foundation (USADF) to provide a combined grant fund of USD 10 million (1 billion shillings) to local Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME’s) in Kenya.

Already, 33 million shillings have been distributed to seven winners of the grant fund. In addition to this, the Bank has successfully issued loans worth Ksh 844million to women entrepreneurs through the DADA proposition.

Under Health, the Stanbic Kenya Foundation has managed to contribute to strengthening the healthcare system of the country by contributing over  147 million shillings in partnership with corporates to provide 192 oxygen therapy units to the Ministry of Health and 1,000 handwashing stations to vulnerable communities across the country at the peak of the pandemic.

The Foundation has also carried out over 3,000 cancer screenings for those with limited access to affordable healthcare and invested in improving testing capacity and hospital infrastructure, food donations and humanitarian support.

On Trade and Investment, the Bank has helped facilitate the deepening of investment and trade flows between Kenya and other African countries, and between Kenya and global markets. This earned them the recognition of Kenya’s Best Investment Bank by EuroMoney Awards for Excellence 2020.

Stanbic Bank has also provided lending facilities for entities operating within key infrastructure sub sectors, including construction and cement, transportation and logistics for construction of roads across Kenya and South Sudan.

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In its sustainability effort, through the Climate Change and Sustainable Financing program, the Bank was the lead arranger for 5.7 billion shillings Green Bond by Acorn Holdings in Kenya in 2019. This was East Africa’s first-ever green bond, and the proceeds are going towards environmentally friendly student accommodation in Nairobi.

According to the lending institution, its commitment to supporting the social pillar of the country has seen  it navigate through a challenging year due to the pandemic and record strong financial results as seen in the last financial results. This was achieved through a three-phased business strategy approach of responding, restoring and rebounding.

The Bank ensured to implement a rapid response strategy that would have a positive societal impact by facilitating a return to growth strategy which allowed them to continue supporting their clients and economies to recover from the effects of the pandemic.