Category Archives: SME solutions

Equity Bank’s War Chest

Equity Bank has been on a tear, signing deals with other banks for affordable lines of credit for on-lending. The latest ones are with the African Development Bank and FMO.

The recent financing agreements include:

In 2020:

  • September 2020: $50 million (Kshs 5.5 Billion) loan facility with the IFC.
  • October 2020: $100 Million from Proparco (Agence Française de Développement Group) to enable Kenya MSMEs, women entrepreneurs who had been particularly affected by the economic shock of the COVID-19 crisis to create jobs. It is expected to impact 240 MSMEs firms which will create over 5,000 direct and indirect jobs.

In 2021:

  • March 4: EUR 125 million (Kshs 16.5 Billion) loan facility signed with the European Investment Bank. The long-term loan will support Equity customer to sustain and scale their operations, with Kshs 6.5 billion to agriculture and Kshs 10 billion to MSMEs.
  • March 10: $100 Million (Kshs 11 Billion) facility with DEG of Germany, CDC Group of the United Kingdom, and FMO of the Netherlands to support MSMEs cope with COVID-19 over three years.
  • March 15: USD 75 Million (Kshs 8.25 Billion) loan facility with the African Guaranty Fund to lend to women-owned and managed micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and DRC.
  • March 23: $10 billion (Kshs 11 billion) from the African Development Bank to support its expansion into Central Africa. The  tier-two facility with a 7-year maturity is also to support lending to women and youth entrepreneurs access capital to recover and thrive in a post-COVID environment.
  • March 25: $50 million (KShs 5.5 billion) NASIRA loan portfolio guarantee from Netherlands FMO, covering loans provided to MSMEs affected by the COVID-19 crisis, including women and young entrepreneurs and companies in the agri-value chain.

Stanbic Kenya to pay dividends after Corona-hit year

Stanbic Kenya bucked the expected trend that banks will by dividend-shy after a year of the Covid-19 and became the first bank to announce their full-year 2020 results, and with an unexpected dividend for shareholders.

During the year, the bank, part of the largest financial group in Africa, set out to support the resilience of their customers, staff and the community. 60% of staff now work from home, and 80% of transactions are done on mobile phones. For customers, they extended moratoriums on Kshs 40 billion of loans, that benefited 7,200 customers, and that included Kshs 3.1 billion to SME’s. They also waived charges on digital transactions and paid out 400 retrenchment insurance policy claims. While the banking industry repayment moratoriums that were set in March 2020 lapsed this month, management, led by Kenya Chief Executive, Charles Mudiwa, said that 80% of Stanbic’s customers had reorganized themselves and resumed repaying their loans by December 2020.

Also, the second half of the year was one of recovery of growth and overall, they managed to grow deposits by 12% to Kshs 217 billion and loans by 4% to Kshs 158 billion, while reducing their cost to income ratio, from 56% to 52%.

Stanbic Kenya’s profit after tax was Kshs 5.2 billion, down 19% from the previous year, but the pre-provision profit was up 2%. The bank will pay shareholders Kshs 3.8 per share for a total payout of Kshs 1.5 billion. This is equivalent to 29% of their earnings, and the bank’s management said that, with its strong capital and liquidity, they should also support Stanbic Kenya’s shareholders. They retain a positive outlook for 2021 even as Covid-19 continues, amid the ongoing distribution of vaccines worldwide.

Idea Exchange: Antler, Forbes, Museums, ODM.

New, and ongoing, opportunities to apply for.

  • As part of their one-year anniversary celebrations, Absa Kenya has invited people to write in on “Wall of possibilities” of community-uplifting things that they would like to Bank to fund. Each idea may get up to Shs 2.5 million and the deadline is 5 March.
  • Antler Global is seeking new startup companies to support with funding and mentoring. The Nairobi deadline is in April, and here’s a glimpse of the 2020 cohort at Antler.
  • Nominate the Woman Entrepreneur You Admire Most to the COMESA 50 Million African Women Speak Platform.
  • DFC, the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation is offering financing of between $3 million and $50 million to African companies in support of the continent’s COVID-19 recovery – via Asoko. 
  • The Forbes Africa 30 Under 30 Class of 2021 in categories for creatives, sports, and business and technology.  Deadline is March 31.  
  • Apply for the 2021 Global Teacher Prize ($1 million) and the new sister award, the Chegg.org Global Student Prize ($50,000). Deadline is 30 April.
  • The Hack the Normal hackathon takes place between 5 – 7 March 2021, invites participants to develop new products, services and business models with commercialization potential in these businesses and create solutions for financial challenges, sustainable living and healthy living.
  • The new Kikao64 co-working hub at Eldoret has 50% discount for non-profits, athletes and startup businesses, while others who sign on through the end of April 2021, get discounts of 25%.
  • The Konza innovation challenge offers $5,000 of funding for startups to pilot their innovations at the Konza Technopolis. Deadline is March 19. 
  • edit The Communication Authority of Kenya 2021 Kuza Awards rewards excellence in broadcasting. Regulatory awards are for compliance, local content, children & broadcasting, regional broadcaster, upcoming broadcaster and copyrights. Also, People Choice awards for favorite radio station, TV station, pay TV, news Radio station and TV station. This year has a theme for “Preserving our Heritage through Broadcasting (Kenya a Heritage of Splendour)”, and there is a Patriotic Award category with awards for Uzalendo Award (airing announcements on Covid-19) and Mzalendo Mkuu Award (educational content). SMS Kuza to 15601 to vote for free.
  • Mask Art awards are open to schools and young people under 25 in categories of the school of the future, young entrepreneur and environmental activist. Deadline is April 1.
  • The East Africa Maritime Awards (EAMA) recognize and award notable users of the Port of Mombasa. Organized by the Kenya Ports Authority, it is open to shipping, ports, services, engineering, and leisure marine industries with operations in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).  The deadline has been extended to March 31.
  • edit From the MasterCard Foundation comes the Baobab’s Got Talent challenge, an exciting storytelling opportunity for young creatives (animation, graphic design, video production) in Africa. Deadline is March 15.
  • From MIT Solve, the 2021 Global Challenge and Solve’s first US Challenge on Antiracist Technology are now open. Anyone anywhere can submit a solution to become part of the 2021 Solver class and access more than $1.5 million in funding.
  • The National Museums of Kenya is seeking historical memorabilia on Kenya, from the year 1800. The items, including photos, film, memorabilia, weapons, musical instruments, farm tools, art, newspaper cuttings, passbooks, etc. can be donated or shared on a long-term loan basis. The deadline is 19 March.
  • For the presidential candidate at ODM, the party is seeking a committed, passionate disciplined and dependable party member who can mount a successful campaign. The entry fee is Kshs 1 million and with a reduced amount of Shs 500,000 for women, youth or persons with disabilities. Deadline is 31 March. 
  • Post Office boxes are available across Kenya. Pick one up by March 31 and get a 30% discount.
  • edit SEED, the Stanford Institute for Innovation in Developing Economies, partners with entrepreneurs (CEO’s / founders) in Africa and South Africa emerging markets to build thriving enterprises that transform lives. Applications deadline is April 15.
  • edit The Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank (TDB) and Asoko Insight have launched a Renewable Energy DealRoom to accelerate the financing of renewable energy projects in the region served by TDB.
  • The Thunderbird School of Global Management is offering a unique scholarship for Africans to attend the online Masters of Applied Leadership & Management with a specialization in Public and Global Affairs starting on March 8, 2021. African students will pay a special tuition of $12,000, compared to $33,000 for other students, representing a scholarship of $21,000.
  • The Tony Elumelu Foundation has the seventh round of its entrepreneurship program in which, with partners, they are seeking to boost 1,0000 businesses and also assist others to recover from Covid-19. This year, 1,000 businesses will receive $5,000 in seed capital, business training, mentorship, and global networking opportunities.  Apply before March 31. 
  • edit The Visa Everywhere Initiative targets fintechs to join a global innovation program. Apply by May 7.
  • edit Nominations for the Africa Food Prize 2021 are ongoing, a $100,000 celebration of African agriculture achievers.

Kikao64 opens in Eldoret

This week at Eldoret saw the opening of Kikao64, a unique and modern co-working spaces for local entrepreneurs and businesses that will have a regular series of knowledge sharing and networking events around innovation, startups, art, sports, lectures, and film.

Albert Boreto, the centre Director, said Kikao64, will invite professionals to advise on company registration, tax, legal, accounting and web development services. Kikao64 has 100 desks (80 ‘hot’ and 20 dedicated ones), private offices, private meeting rooms, and good Wi-Fi across a large space of shared workspaces. The desks are available for Shs 750 per day or Shs 4,000 a week or Shs 16,000 per month, and to connect with existing community initiatives, the space has a 50% discount for nonprofits, athletes and startup businesses, while and others who sign on through the end of  April 2021, can get discounts of 25%.

Speaking at the launch of Kikao64,  the Governor of Uasin Gishu County, Jackson Mandago, said his administration was proud to be associated with the Kikao64 shared working space that embraces technology and enables people to work in the new normal of Covid-19. He confessed that he had been thinking of something similar, but the new space was better and well-situated, with good ambience, and he hoped it would become a famous meeting spot in Eldoret as others like Barnegtuny Plaza.

He said many people wanted to start businesses and two main problems they faced were office space and internet and these had been solved by Kikao64 for about Shs 2,000. He appreciated the need for fast internet for as, while trying to promote the government’s AGPO (Access to Government Procurement Opportunities), some young business people had been previously knocked out from opportunities as they were not able to completely upload procurement documents due to poor connectivity.

The site was an old run-down place building before its founders embark on renovating it with a unique design into a conducive place for people in the Eldoret area. The transformation process was delayed for a year by Covid-19 and the redesign added on safety aspects like spacing between desks and hand wash stations.

Kikao64 also has a garden that can host events, meeting rooms private phone booths, a small library with new, business and bestselling books, a coffee shop, and private parking. It is open from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. between Monday to Friday, and from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends and holidays.

The Creative Sector in 2020

The Africa Digital Media Foundation (ADMF) has published a comprehensive report on the state of the creative sector in Kenya and the needs, challenges, and ambitions of its participants. ADMF started the study with a questionnaire that was widely circulated and completed the research in July 2020 using online forums and tools.

Summary of their findings:

  • There is a willingness in the Kenya creative entrepreneurs to make things better for everyone.
  • Success breeds success and the creative population is divided between those that have made it (and keep grabbing jobs and clients) and those that have not (less- established creative entrepreneurs who may have few years of experience, little commercial and financial success)
  • All want opportunities to learn more; they accept that technology evolves and new products require new skills.
  • Banks don’t understand; formal credit and financing options aren’t considered viable options by creatives; their financing is limited to sourcing from friends and family.
  • Almost everyone had a story about doing work and not receiving payment as agreed from the client.

Other interesting findings in the report:

  • Top engagements are in TV/video production, writing/journalism, graphic design, animation and finally photography (all have more than 10%). Some small categories with 1% are gaming, event planning and jewellery.
  • There is 50/50 split between those that have formally registered their business and those that haven’t. Of the non-registered ones, some can’t afford to lose some of their income in taxes while others do not see the benefit in registering a business, paying taxes, and accessing the supposed benefits that taxpayers enjoy, such as NHIF and NSSF.
  • 23% work in the sector part-time. Their other sources of income are teaching (7) and 4% each for farming and events equipment rental.

Check it out the full report here.

Also, read more about ADMF, and its sister institution, the Africa Digital Media Institute (ADMI). Some of the courses open for enrollment in 2021 including certificates in video game development, music production, video production, digital marketing, and Rubika 2D animation as well as diplomas in Rubika video game design, sound engineering, animation & motion graphics and film & television production.