With the aim of reducing the financial inclusion gender gap in Kenya, Stanbic Bank has today launched a Value Proposition for women dubbed D.A.D.A. that will provide essential financial and non-financial services that Kenyan women need to grow.
In addition, a kitty of KES 20 billion has been set aside by Stanbic Bank to specifically lend to SMEs in Kenya between now and 2020.
“DADA”, acronym for ‘Dare to Aspire Dare to Achieve’ is tailored to help women develop financially from a personal and business perspective. This is in turn will help secure their families, impact communities and grow the economy.
This comes at a time when Kenya has committed to halving the financial inclusion gender gap by 2021 after signing the Denarau Action Plan initiated by the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI). Currently, the gender gap stands at nine percentage points in the developing world representing over 1 billion women who are still excluded in access to financial services.
Speaking during the launch, Charles Mudiwa, Stanbic Bank Chief Executive said that the bank is committed to sustainably provide women with the banking solutions that truly address their needs.
“We have committed to go out of our way to arm Kenyan women, especially women in business, with the tools they need to participate more fully in the financial system. With the KES 20 billion kitty, we shall target women with viable business plans in enterprises of all sizes operating in the formal and informal sectors”, said Mr. Mudiwa.
DADA will address women’s need to save, borrow, invest and protect. It will give women access to education, information, networking opportunities and wellness.
Rose Kimotho, Stanbic Holdings Director, while launching the new solution said that women’s financial inclusion must be prioritized to unleash their initiative, creativity, entrepreneurial endeavour and economic contribution.
“Women make important contributions in Kenya as business owners and entrepreneurs. Enabling them to grow even more by providing relevant financial solutions will have a ripple effect and countless benefits besides increased economic growth.
On his part, Manuel Moses, IFC Country Manager said that their 2017 IFC MSME Finance gap study showed that 33% of all micro and formal SMEs in Kenya are owned by Women – 517,000 in total. He added that IFC partnership with Stanbic Bank has provided an opportunity to develop the value proposition that also incorporates gender-aggregated data to achieve maximum impact and results.
DADA will be available from today for sign up to all women across the country.
“This will be continuous process to ensure we address women’s financial needs. Women must become a focal point of our collective financial inclusion efforts as a country”, Said Mr. Mudiwa.
