Absa Bank Kenya team, in conjunction with the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KNCCI), was in Kitale to meet and interact with small and medium enterprises and provide them with solutions to make their businesses better.
Kitale town is the headquarters of the larger Trans-Nzoia County. The county is largely an agricultural region with the main crop being maize. It is often referred to as the food basket of Kenya given its massive tracks of land that are maize farming.
Other economic activities within the county and the town include dairy and poultry farming. The town thrives on the wheels of SMEs providing support and employment opportunities to about 80 percent of the residents.
“Trans Nzoia County is home to a vibrant business community with a diverse portfolio of businesses ranging from agro-processing, transport, trade, and tourism. It is against this backdrop that we have picked Trans Nzoia County as part of our multi-county business support tours in Western Kenya as we seek to enhance the capacity of the county’s SME sector as well as show our support towards the growth and development of existing and emerging players in the Western region’s economy,” said Peter Mutua, the Customer Network Director at Absa Bank Kenya.
Absa Kenya landed in Kitale at a time the majority of SMEs within and without the town are emerging out of the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic that threatened to sink most of them. It also came at a time the SMEs were facing challenges of access to markets, access to information, and inadequate training and coaching.
Absa Bank Kenya, beyond financial solutions, has adopted a holistic approach to SME empowerment where business owners are trained on business sustainability, funding, bookkeeping, and networking to ensure they become bankable.
“We are also committed to continuing to support our SME customers with business insights, networks, and expertise to transform their businesses. It is our firm belief that through candid conversations, we shall be in a better position as a bank to support high, broad-based, inclusive, and sustainable growth of SMEs in partnership with counties,” added Peter.
The team from Absa and KNCCI took those in attendance through ways they could access markets and information through training and empowerment, as well as through partnerships on their business growth. They were also equipped with critical financial and non-financial best practice skills to address gaps in business, management, and leadership skills.
Peter said that Absa Bank is committed to helping businesses in Trans-Nzoia County have access to finances to grow their businesses. SMEs were introduced to how they could apply and access unsecured lending of up to 10 million shillings, payable over 5 years for existing borrowers, and 7 million shillings for new borrowers, payable in 4 years.
Those interested in various products that Absa Bank Kenya is offering to SMEs can get more information through https://www.absabank.co.ke/business/bank/sme-business-accounts/ or send the term #Wezesha to 22268.
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