Small Businesses Receive Sh.400 M Loans from Trade Lobby and MasterCard

Around 14,00 small businesses have received Sh. 400M interest-free loans from Mastercard Foundation and Trade Lobby. These loans are meant to help rebuild businesses negatively affected by Covid-19, leading Kenya’s economy to reduce by 5.7% end of 2020. The loans are part of the Covid-19 Resilience and Recovery Programme.

“We have disbursed up to Sh.400 million to youth and women-owned businesses in partnership with MasterCard Foundation since the rollout of the fund last year,” said CEO Samuel Matonda.

CEO Matonda of the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KNCCI) on Monday added that the funds meant for women and youth-led businesses were disbursed between last October to March. The major beneficiaries of the funds disbursed in October were the Micro and Small Enterprises (MSMEs). These are in the informal sector mainly dealing in retail, healthcare, agriculture, and manufacturing sectors.

“We currently have 14,000 beneficiaries and this number is growing as we continue to process applications. We also have 1,700 beneficiaries on their second and third loans,” he said.

The MSMEs eligible for the funds are women aged between 18 and 70 years and youth aged between 18 and 35 years. They are also members of KNCCI. These beneficiaries are retailers, hawkers, fashion industry players, and restaurant owners, and those in the Jua Kali sector. Mr. Matonda also confirms that over 100,000 have been refunded out of the Sh. 400 million disbursed loans.

According to Mr. Matonda, the program is a national program “with beneficiaries from 46 counties, all counties except Samburu. In our assessment, the repayment rate stands at 70%.” In August 2020, the MasterCard foundation announced a series of partnerships that will build the resilience of micro-small and medium enterprises in Kenya as well as bring relief.