Background – Kenyans are renowned for their initiative and their inherent business sense. This is in spite of the fact that many of those living from the land in the more isolated regions have few opportunities to find themselves an additional source of income. Around half of the population are classed as poor. Too often, these people lack the start-up capital necessary to open up a small shop or to plant an additional crop on their Shamba (farmstead). In recent years, the microfinance market has expanded, so providing these people with opportunities to secure favourable credits. Nevertheless, two thirds of all Kenyan women and men of working age still have no access to formal financial services. They face the choice of relying on their own means or obtaining capital under unfavourable terms, either from within their community or from informal money lenders.

Project – Swisscontact is endeavouring, on various levels, to ensure that the microfinance market develops in such a way as to benefit the economically active poor people. Equity Bank (EB) is the undisputed market leader for those customers with low incomes and few assets. Thanks to EB credits, tens of thousands of people have been able to set up and develop their own businesses; today, some of these people are providing others with jobs and income. Since 2001, Swisscontact has been working with the Bank as its technical adviser and the two organizations have formed a close partnership to develop new products. Also of great importance to the farmers and the other small entrepreneurs in Kenya are the savings and credit cooperatives (SACCOs). Through these, women and men are able to pool their savings and take out loans from their mutual capital or use it as a guarantee for a group credit from a bank. Swisscontact is advising interested parties all over the country, in order to enable them to set up their own SACCO. Recently, the Swiss foundation has started training the trainers, who, in turn, have been assisting the foundation of new savings groups.

The growing microfinance market is in need of a qualified workforce, particularly credit officers and tellers but also managers for microfinance banks and SACCOs. Together with Strathmore University and Mount Kenya University , Swisscontact is devising new practical training courses for microfinance experts on the various levels of the business.

All these activities, as well as the additional programmes, e.g. those in the field of microleasing, are helping to ensure that women and men in Kenya with initiative are able to improve their lives as small entrepreneurs and thus make their poverty a distant memory.