Equity feted as best financier for women entrepreneurs
Equity Bank Managing Director James Mwangi. He says the bank remains committed in its efforts to accelerate the recovery and resilience of the region post the Covid-19 pandemic.
What you need to know:
- Equity Group has been feted as the platinum winner for the Best Financier for Women Entrepreneurs.
- The judging panel recognised that the bank’s business growth was higher than average for women-led SMEs.
- Among its innovative solutions is Fanikisha, which offers affordable loans from as low as Sh1,000.
Equity Group has been feted by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the as the platinum winner for the Best Financier for Women Entrepreneurs.
The judging panel recognised that the bank’s business growth was higher than average for women-led Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) while the risk metrics were about half the average.
Over the years, the lender has tailored its financial solutions to meet the needs of individual women, women in groups and women-headed SMEs across East and Central Africa.
Among these innovative solutions is Fanikisha, which offers affordable loans from as low as Sh1,000 enabling women to enhance their growth and to create wealth.
Additionally, the bank has impacted more than eight million women through the disbursement of Sh339.2 billion after successfully employing a credit-scoring graduation model for different entrepreneurs.
The lender has also encouraged women to leverage on their social capital and group savings to access financing for their individual and group projects.
Covid-19 pandemic
Further, the bank has offered more than two million women and youth entrepreneurs a 13-week financial and literacy training, business advisory services, mentorship and coaching at no cost through its Equity Group Foundation.
It is currently partnering with MasterCard Foundation to implement the Young Africa Work Kenya (YAW-K) Programme aimed at generating more than 800,000 jobs over a five-year period which comes to an end in 2024.
Commenting on the award, Equity Group Managing Director and CEO James Mwangi, asserted that the bank remains committed in its efforts to accelerate the recovery and resilience of the region post the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We have rolled out a private sector focused stimulus package through a Sh700 billion funding dubbed ‘Africa Recovery and Resilience Plan’. We intend to reach five million SMEs and 25 million individual borrowers over the next five years, including women and youth owned businesses,” Dr Mwangi said.
The bank was also named the silver winner for SME Financier of the Year- Africa, and received special honorary mention under the ‘Product Innovation of the Year’ category during the awarding ceremony that occurred from September 19 to 21, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
