SMEs, Education Sector to Benefit from the 1.95B Family Bank Acquired for Onward Lending – Kenya Satellite News Network

By Shadrack Nyakoe

Family Bank has secured a total of Ksh. 1.95 billion, USD 17 million, from BlueOrchard Finance Ltd (BlueOrchard) managed funds to extend to the Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) and to support the education sector.

The funding will be used for onward lending to MSMEs to enable the resumption of business operations from the challenges of COVID-19, to expand access to affordable credit extended to SMEs by the Bank and to promote access to education for secondary, higher and vocation education levels through customised financial services.

“Our long-term business perspective is to drive sustainable value addition across the end-to-end value chain. This can only be possible through collaboration with partners such as BlueOrchard, a leading impact investment manager,” said Family Bank CEO Rebecca Mbithi.

“As a Bank, we have taken an active role in building a sustainable business that seeks to provide value in the communities that we operate in. Further to supporting SMEs, we are deliberate in supporting key drivers of the economy like the education sector,” she concluded.

This year the Bank acquired KES 1.5 billion loan portfolio guarantee facility from the African Guarantee Fund(AGF) to increase lending to Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, women-led businesses and climate-friendly investments. In addition, the Bank acquired USD 10 million, approximately KES 1.1 billion from eco.business Fund to increase access to finance for sustainable agricultural producers, particularly in the tea sector. This brings the total amount of funds raised by the Bank to KES 4.55 billion.