KCB Group eyes new avenues, existing initiatives for Women 

• KCB Scaling Women’s Access to Finance for Inclusive Growth!

KCB Group is looking for fresh avenues and scaling existing initiatives to expand women’s access to capital. This is geared towards accelerating progress toward inclusive growth in East Africa.

Group CEO, Paul Russo made this commitment yesterday on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

Speaking at a UN Global Compact side event, Mr. Russo noted that deliberate efforts are already delivering results.

Through the Bank’s Female-Led and Made Enterprises proposition, KSh 250 billion was set aside to fund women entrepreneurs over five years with nearly KSh 160 billion already disbursed.

“We have been deliberate in pushing practical solutions to embed gender equality into capital allocation and governance. We must build more partnerships to make capital available for women at affordable rates,” he said.

KCB has also signed several deals to strengthen financing for women.In February, the British International Investment extended a $100 million Tier 2 capital facility to KCB Bank Kenya to increase its lending capacity to climate-related projects and women-led small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

The facility supports financing for women-owned businesses, particularly in the informal sector, addressing systemic challenges and cultural barriers that limit access to credit, key hurdles for entrepreneurship and growth.

“Today, one of the most critical drivers of sustainable growth is gender diversity. It is not just a social aspiration or a ‘nice to have’ ,it is a business imperative.

We have to be intentional as a Bank and expand the focus across all the markets we operate in” added Mr. Russo.