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In the face of today’s challenging macroeconomic environment, Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) across the country can find a path to growth through Equity Group’s Africa Recovery and Resilience Plan (ARRP).
This Plan reaffirms Equity’s unwavering commitment to empowering SMEs and women entrepreneurs.Equity Group recognizes MSMEs as crucial drivers of indigenous capital and entrepreneurship. They contribute significantly to local capital formation and employment, accounting for 72% of Equity’s loan and credit portfolio. The ARRP proposes to
lend and advance loans to 5 million MSMEs and 25 million individuals, focusing on young people and women, to stimulate local community engagement.
The Plan incorporates credit risk-sharing strategies and capacity building through financial literacy and entrepreneurship training.
These measures aim to boost the success rate of MSMEs and youth.
A testament to this approach is the successful pilot lending program under the Young Africa Works program, in partnership with the MasterCard Foundation.
The program trained and funded 436,000 MSMEs, resulting in the creation of 1.2 million jobs.Dr. James Mwangi, Managing Director and CEO of Equity Group, emphasizes that the Plan’s objective is to formalize the informal sector of MSMEs.
This is achieved by integrating them with formal manufacturing and primary food and agriculture sectors, enhancing their value chains and ecosystems to foster growth and resilience.
βThe objective of the Plan is to formalize the informal sector of MSMEs by linking them with formal manufacturing and primary food and agriculture sectors and by populating their value chains and ecosystems to achieve growth and resilience while accelerating recovery of the MSME sector,” says Dr. Mwangi.
MSMEs can leverage the region’s productive capacities and comparative advantages to transform it into a manufacturing hub.
The strategy includes value addition for all primary products, like mineral processing, to export semi-finished and finished products.
Through the ARRP, Equity Group also aims to finance MSMEs in manufacturing and bolster regional supply chains affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
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This will enhance regional resilience to global supply chain shocks while providing job opportunities for young people and markets for local manufacturers.
The Plan envisions offering up to 2% of the combined GDP of the six economies where the Group operates to the private sector.
This would be through a mix of short-term overdrafts, medium-term loans, and long-term project and development financing credit facilities.
Equity Group’s robust presence in East and Central Africa enables it to provide proactive financial solutions that empower SMEs and women entrepreneurs.
Initiatives include mentorship, entrepreneurship training, and financial education for over 2.4 million women and youth.
Furthermore, Equity has provided training to 448,169 MSMEs and disbursed Sh. 248.3 billion to 269,081 SMEs via the Young Africa Works Program.
Equity’s dedication to supporting SMEs was recently recognized at the 2023 Global SME Awards organized by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the SME Finance Forum.
The awards celebrated Equity’s efforts in expanding access to finance for SMEs, including the “Pay with Equity” solution and support for women entrepreneurs. Additionally, Equity Group won the Best-Case Study in Retail MSME/MSME Financing at the Sustainable Finance Initiative Catalyst Awards organized by the Kenya Bankers Association.
These awards underscore Equity’s leadership in the financial sector and its commitment to setting a standard of excellence in supporting SMEs and women entrepreneurs.
They further recognize the lenderβs efforts in delivering exceptional financial services to its SME clients and women entrepreneurs.
Find more information on the Africa Recovery and Resilience Plan (ARRP) visit this link: https://equitygroupholdings.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Africa-Recovery-and-Resilience-Plan-Equity-Group-Social-and-Economic-Transformation-Plan.pdf