Absa Bank Kenya PLC has established the Absa Kenya Foundation (AKF) to accelerate its social impact and sustainability initiatives.
The Foundation will focus on four key areas: entrepreneurship, education and skills, natural resource management, and health and humanitarian relief.
“This Foundation is yet another step forward in our journey to lead and innovate within the financial sector, acting as a catalyst for positive, lasting change. This presents us with an important opportunity to build upon our past experiences to strengthen our ability to create lasting shared value and scalable impact for our communities in a sustainable manner,” Absa Bank Kenya Managing Director and CEO Abdi Mohamed said.
The Foundation will receive KES 500 million as initial funding with the listed lender dedicating 1.5 per cent of its annual earnings to the Foundation.
AKF’s Pillars and Goals
- Entrepreneurship: Empower 50,000 MSMEs, focusing on women, youth, and persons living with disabilities over the next five years. 10 per cent of AKF’s entrepreneurship empowerment efforts will be directed at generating growth in the agriculture sector.
- Education and Skills: Reach 1 million youth through various programs award STEM scholarships through the Ready-to-Work initiative and support 50,000 youth through the Absa Fellowship Program.
- Natural Resource Management: The Foundation plans to expand climate financing contributions under the Natural Resource Management pillar to address climate change concerns through programs such as climate-smart agriculture, renewable energy, tree planting, and tree growing. The Foundation will advocate for low-carbon, climate-resilient development in collaboration with youth, SMEs, and other stakeholders, with the commitment to plant 10 million trees acting as a cornerstone.
- Health and Humanitarian Relief: Address health issues and respond to humanitarian crises such as floods and famine.
“We recognize that this is a journey we cannot undertake alone. We require robust partnerships, collaborations, and cooperation with like-minded stakeholders, which will form a solid foundation for the success of this endeavour,” he added.
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