SMEs are an important driver of economic growth for any country, county, or region. In Kenya, they account for at least 90 percent of the businesses, provide employment to at least 86 percent of the population, and contribute at least 40 percent to the country’s GDP.
Stats show that at least 450,000 of them are shutting down annually, 30,000 monthly, and at least 1,000 dying daily. Apart from access to capital, SMEs also face limited market access, lack of skills transfer, changes in technology, and retention of talent amongst other issues.
Absa Bank Kenya promised to equip and support micro, small, and medium businesses across the coastal region by helping them access finances, free training, and coaching to help them wade through the myriads of challenges facing MSMEs.
In conjunction with the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KNCCI), Absa Bank was on a series of tours across the counties of Kwale, Kilifi, Taita Taveta, and Mombasa, to meet converse and understand the needs of small business owners.
The visit to the coast by the Absa team came a few days after another successful tour by the same team in the Western Kenya region; Kisumu, Kisii, Bungoma, Kitale, and Eldoret, where at least 1000 MSMEs, mostly women in business were trained and introduced to new Absa products that could boost their businesses.
With the main economic activities in the coastal region being farming (the majority of which are small-scale), tourism, and fishing, challenges such as inadequate funds, inaccessibility to markets, inadequate information, and lack of training and coaching, have often threatened to bring the majority of them on their knees.
“As Absa Bank Kenya, we understand that these challenges that small businesses face are impacting the growth of SMEs. We have thus come up with exciting solutions as our support to the growth and sustainability of this important sector… we seek to enhance the capacity of the county’s SME sector as well as projects with high impact in terms of employment creation, increasing county competitiveness, revenue generation,” said Mr. Peter Mutua, Customer Network Director at Absa Bank Kenya.
SMEs are an important driver of economic growth for any country, county, or region. In Kenya, they account for at least 90 percent of the businesses, provide employment to at least 86 percent of the population, and contribute at least 40 percent to the country’s GDP.
Yet, despite these advantages that the economy draws from the SME sector, they continue to face innumerable challenges every day. Stats show that at least 450,000 of them are shutting down annually, 30,000 monthly, and at least 1,000 dying daily. Apart from access to capital, SMEs also face limited market access, lack of skills transfer, changes in technology, and retention of talent amongst other issues.
To help SMEs at the coast grow their businesses and protect them from collapsing, those who attended the training sessions were trained on how to access finances from Absa Bank to grow their businesses. They 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.