Guaranty Trust Bank (Kenya) Limited, a subsidiary of the Guaranty Trust Group, has received a $15 million loan from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) for on-lending to local firms in Kenya.
Small and medium-sized firms (SMEs) in the trade, consumer goods, pharmaceuticals, and manufacturing sectors, among others, would benefit from GTBank Kenya’s access to funding, which will help them retain and create jobs, as well as strengthen their operations.
GTBank Kenya received a $15 million loan from the IFC as part of the $8 billion IFC Fast Track Covid-19 Facility, which will be released in 2020.
The facility is intended to assist existing IFC clients in emerging markets affected by Covid-19’s economic consequences.
The managing director, GTBank Kenya, Olabayo Veracruz said: “the IFC loan will help the Bank meet the working capital and trade-related needs of businesses, especially SMEs that are part of our core clientele.
“These businesses were adversely affected by the pandemic and are now recovering and reviving as the economy opens up, therefore requiring the support of the Bank through access to credit.”
Veracruz stated that, “we hope to on-lend the facility to customers in the trade, FMCG, manufacturing, and pharmaceutical sectors primarily to fund working capital needs over the next year.”
The IFC country manager for Kenya, Amena Arif, said: “IFC is committed to supporting Kenya’s private sector, including strengthening its financial sector in order to help the country’s smaller businesses to access more financing.
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“Our partnership with GTBank Kenya will deliver funds to businesses, allowing them to emerge stronger from the COVID-19 crisis.”
Pandemic-related disruptions caused Kenya’s real GDP to contract in 2020, with the country’s smaller businesses hit hard by supply chain disruptions and reduced economic activity.
Although Kenya returned to pre-pandemic growth levels in 2021, 2022 is also proving challenging and smaller businesses still need added support to weather ongoing uncertainties.
IFC is committed to supporting Kenya’s long-term economic growth. IFC’s investment portfolio in Kenya stood at $940.1 million as of June 30, 2021 with most investments in the finance, manufacturing, agribusiness, and services sectors.
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