Proparco has granted Equity Bank two guarantee facilities, ARIZ and EURIZ totalling €39 million (Ksh 5 billion) for onward lending to Kenyan MSMEs. Proparco also granted a Ksh. 71 million (€550,000) technical assistance facility to support Equity Group Foundation’s health projects.
The EURIZ guarantee and the technical assistance grant were supported by the European Union and the Organization of African, Caribbean and Pacific States.
Equity Bank has over the years supported high-impact development programs through the Equity Group Foundation. These include programs in Education and Leadership Development, Energy and Environment, Food and Agriculture, Health, Financial Inclusion and Enterprise Development and Social Protection.
“We want to see continued progress for our SME and MSMEs as the world opens up and by working together with partners such as Proparco, the European Union (EU) and the European Development Fund, and the Organization of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS), we are offering our clients a way to empower themselves while creating economic opportunities for wealth creation for our people”, stated Equity Group MD Dr James Mwangi.
These initiatives will contribute to several Sustainable Development Goals, including Good Health and Well Being, Gender Equality and Decent Work and Economic Growth.
This is the third time that Proparco is partnering with Equity after providing a Ksh. 10 billion loan in 2020 to support Kenyan SMEs during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The previous partnership was in 2019 when Proparco provided a USD 22.8 million loan granted in 2019 as part of broader financing of USD 100 million.
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