The programme rolled out by Equity Bank offers tiered financial solutions tailored to suit businesswomen at every stage of growth.
Women in business across Kenya are set for a major reprieve, with easier access to affordable credit and nonfinancial support, including skills, mentorship, and networks, through the countrywide rollout of the enhanced Fanikisha women’s banking solution.
The programme rolled out by Equity Bank offers tiered financial solutions tailored to suit businesswomen at every stage of growth. The tiers include Shaba for startups, Dhahabu for micro businesses, Almasi for SMEs, and Platini for corporate clients. The rollout coincides with International Women’s Day celebrations, highlighting renewed efforts to expand inclusion and growth for women in business.
To date, over Ksh565.6 billion has been disbursed under the initiative to women-led enterprises across Kenya since it was commissioned in 2007 by Equity in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
The enhanced package offers several benefits, including health insurance cover for women and their families for as low as Ksh5,800 per year, opportunities for beneficiaries to explore new markets through regional and international trade missions organized by Equity, unsecured bid bonds of up to Ksh10 million processed within one hour, and entrepreneurship training courses.
Beneficiaries in Kwale County and across the Coast region said the programme has supported business growth. After facing frustrations accessing affordable credit at her SACCO to expand her short-stay apartments business in Diani and later being limited to fragmented financial solutions that could not support the growth of her building and construction business, Priscah Wambui approached Equity Bank’s Ukunda Branch in Kwale County.
“Luckily for me, the Bank embraced me and gave me my first loan of Ksh50,000 after I had banked with them for a short while and built a credible credit history and credit score. I was onboarded onto Fanikisha after I made it clear that I needed a tailored solution that could grow with me as a woman in business and enable me to access working capital,” said Wambui.
She said she lost her job and ventured into the short-stay rental apartment business and has since expanded into the construction sector around Ukunda Town in Kwale County.
“For me, Equity is now home, if the generosity and support, especially the financial literacy training under the initiative, is anything to go by. And it’s not just me. I have groups of women with whom we borrow together, and the support has been a game-changer for our businesses,” said Wambui.
Anastacia Mghoi has grown from a roadside general store kiosk in Ukunda to becoming one of the leading FMCG distributors across the Coast region, with 11 trucks and multiple warehouses. “Despite starting small and facing many challenges, including demolitions that saw our premises knocked down and break-ins that set us back, Equity Bank kept walking with us, offering overdraft facilities, ecosystem banking solutions to our suppliers and financial literacy on savings, investment, responsible borrowing and debt management under the Fanikisha initiative,” said Mghoi, who began with two employees and now employs over 30 people at her distribution depots and warehouses, with access to overdraft facilities running into millions of shillings.
Susan Nduku, a curio shop owner targeting tourists in Shimba Hills and Mwaluganje, said that through Fanikisha, she and 13 women from her chama have been able to expand their businesses and build homes.
“Through the bank’s financial literacy training and the Fanikisha tailored solution, we have been able to access affordable loans for business and personal development, and all 14 of us in the group have built homes,” said Nduku. She said the solution addressed challenges she faced, including the inability to access affordable loans and limited nonfinancial support such as skills training, networks, and mentorship.
As a shop owner, she had previously been financially excluded from larger loans due to a lack of credit history. She also faced challenges, such as one-size-fits-all financing models that ignore sector differences and growth stages for women in business.
