Country
Kenya
Local Project Partners
WYLDE International, Nairobi
German Project Partner
ICON-Institut Sustain GmbH, Cologne
Donor
GIZ
Duration
01.03.2025 - 30.11.2026
Strengthening and restructuring the financial system will lead to stability in Kenya's financial sector. This is evidenced by the increased availability of sources of financing and a broader range of financial services. The project's tasks lie in access, networking and skills on the supply side in order to meet the needs of the demand side (SMEs) with suitable products and services. These challenges particularly affect businesses run by women and young people, due to factors such as financiers' high risk aversion, lack of collateral, limited financial knowledge and gender-specific prejudices.
The Kenyan government has made great efforts to promote MSMEs, including through access to finance. Initiatives have been launched for youth and women-led enterprises, targeting access to finance and other business development services (BDS) providers. Nevertheless, MSMEs continue to face bottlenecks and struggle to reach their full potential.
Project Tasks
Implementation of measures defined by the client within the consortium:
- Raising awareness of new/alternative financial services, assistance with product development.
- Design and implementation of special toolkits for loan applications (collaboration with financial institutions to jointly develop tailor-made toolkits for beneficiaries).
- Planning pitch sessions for financial institutions to evaluate potential customers.
- Capacity building to provide financial education and business management programmes tailored to the needs of different beneficiaries (strengthening the capacities of actors in the entrepreneurship ecosystem in three districts).
