Kenya’s Diamond Trust Bank (DTB) has secured $25 million debt financing from DEG – Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH, a subsidiary of KfW, in a move that will see the bank fund and scale up its small and medium enterprise loan portfolio.
DEG’s Regional Head for East Africa, Mr. Eric Kaleja said “We deliberately engage in investments aimed at sustainable growth and economic development – and in countries with higher business risks. Drawing on our many years of experience in these countries, we are well equipped to assess these risks and also factor in any surprising local developments in an appropriate manner.”
“Companies can rely on us to stand by them when things get tough. Through our long-term financing to private enterprises such as DTB, we target the sustainable success of our customers – an important key to our overall goal of economic development.” continued Mr. Kaleja.
Today’s raise follows DTB recent Kshs 3.6 billion capital raised hrough a successful fourth rights issue which the bank says it will use to further leverage its asset growth and improve its market positioning in Kenya.
The signing of the facility in Kenya comes on the back of long term loan facilities DEG has entered into with DTB Uganda and DTB Tanzania in 2013 and 2014, amounting to USD15 million and USD7.5 million respectively.
Ms. Nasim Devji, DTB’s Group CEO, said, “We see this loan facility as a key milestone in enabling our customers growing their businesses. The SME sector forms the heart of DTB’s customer base and the growth engine, not only for DTB but for the larger economy. With this significant credit line, we will continue to expand our SME offering and customer base.”
Kenya, following today’s signing. This is a testimony to the solid partnership we intend to build with DEG to support DTB’s growth plans and future positioning and, by extension, promoting economic development across the East African region.”
DTB is an affiliate of the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED) and has operated in East Africa for 70 years and has been listed on the Nairobi Stock Exchange since 1972. In 2013, DEG invested EUR 1.5bn in developing and emerging market countries. A total of EUR 794m of commitments were allocated to SMEs.