BUSINESS OWNERS GET COVID-19 LOANS
By Samuel Migele
Over 200 local businesses in Kenya
applied for COVID-19 relief loans under a
programme run by Kenya Private Sector
Alliance (KEPSA) and Mastercard Foundation.
The first set of beneficiaries have received the
loans and several more are under review,
pending disbursement of funds.
The Mastercard Foundation COVID-19 Recovery
and Resilience Programme for micro, small and
medium enterprises (MSMEs) aims to benefit
400 MSMEs through the partnership with
KEPSA, whose operations have been adversely
affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The beneficiaries, who include women- and
youth-owned enterprises, receive interest-free
loans ranging between Kshs 100,000 to Kshs
1.5 million without any collateral, and payable
within six months. The business must be a
KEPSA member either directly or through a
member Association, (refer here for KEPSA
member associations) and must have been in
existence for at least six months to be
considered eligible to apply.
“We are working to spur economic recovery
with a focus on small businesses, and these
loans can be used to restart and rebuild
businesses as the pandemic-related restrictions
continue to be lifted and recovery begins,”
KEPSA Chief Executive Officer Ms. Karuga says,
adding “We anticipate to see more businesses
receive funds in due course.”
The Mastercard Foundation COVID-19 Recovery
and Resilience Programme aims to assist local
businesses to weather and respond to the
negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic,
while strengthening their resilience in the long-
run. Besides providing loans, the programme
also enables MSMEs to share knowledge
between them, and provides coaching to
businesses on how to navigate the prevailing
market disruptions.
The programme was launched in June this year
and the loan application period is expected to
be closed by the end of January 2021.
While the majority of the businesses applying
for the loans are based in Nairobi County,
applications have been received from 17
counties across the country. Among those that
have already received loans are businesses in
real estate, insurance, retail, and education
sectors, which are some of the most hard-hit
sectors by the pandemic.
Majority are women-owned businesses, with the
average age of the applicants being more than
35 years. A KEPSA survey in October showed
that 64% of the MSMEs surveyed had
experienced high or very high negative impact
on their businesses from COVID-19, which
included loss of customers, liquidity challenges,
high cost of operations, inability to pay salaries,
and reduced labour productivity.
“We are encouraging more business owners to
apply for this facility to boost their businesses,
as they are the lifeblood of our local economy,”
says Lilian Mramba, Grassroots Business
Funds (GBF) Regional Director for Africa,
adding, “The uptake is encouraging as we have
received applications from 17 counties across
the country. We expect more applications from
January as most businesses are gearing to
resume.”
GBF, a global impact investment organization,
is the facility’s fund manager. The application
process is online through a portal run by
KEPSA.
BUSINESS OWNERS GET COVID-19 LOANS
https://versantcenter.org/index.php/component/k2/item/2-maecenas-eget-libero?start=6990
BUSINESS OWNERS GET COVID-19 LOANS
https://cuppingbirmingham.co.uk/hijama-dudley/