<\/p>\n
The Trade Finance Transaction Guarantee Facility will support eligible transactions involving small and medium-sized enterprises and local companies in Kenya.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Under the agreement, the AfDB will provide guarantees covering up to 100% of the non-payment risk faced by confirming banks.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The guarantees will apply to eligible letters of credit and similar trade-finance instruments issued by Equity Bank Kenya.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Reducing the risk carried by confirming banks is expected to increase the financing available for transactions originating from Equity Bank Kenya.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The facility will help Kenyan businesses pay for eligible imports, secure productive inputs and participate more effectively in regional and international trade.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cAfrica does not suffer from a shortage of enterprise,\u201d AfDB East Africa Director-General Alex Mubiru said during the signing ceremony held in Nairobi on October 1.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cToo often, Africa suffers from a shortage of financing that allows enterprises to trade.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Mubiru said combining AfDB\u2019s ability to carry risk with Equity Bank Kenya\u2019s local reach and market knowledge could expand opportunities for businesses. \u201cBy combining the AfDB’s risk-bearing capacity with Equity Bank\u2019s local reach and knowledge, this facility can turn shared risk into expanded opportunity for Kenyan businesses,\u201d Mubiru said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The partnership is also expected to support trade among African countries and advance implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Trade-finance guarantees enable local banks to complete cross-border transactions by providing protection to international financial institutions against possible non-payment.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Small and medium-sized enterprises are particularly affected by limited access to trade finance because of collateral requirements, perceived risk and the cost of cross-border transactions.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Africa\u2019s unmet trade-finance demand was estimated at as much as $92 billion in 2024, with smaller businesses among the most severely affected.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
AfDB uses transaction guarantees and funded facilities to help African financial institutions increase financing for importers and exporters.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The agreement with Equity Bank Kenya is expected to improve access to essential imports while helping local businesses expand production, enter new markets and strengthen regional value chains.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
–AfDB\/ChannelAfrica–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":42566,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news-type":[44],"class_list":["post-48236","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-finance","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Kenyan businesses will gain expanded access to trade finance through a $60 million guarantee facility signed by the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) and Equity Bank Kenya Limited.","published_date":"","news_description":"Kenyan businesses will gain expanded access to trade finance through a $60 million guarantee facility signed by the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) and Equity Bank Kenya Limited.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/48236","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/48236\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48238,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/48236\/revisions\/48238"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42566"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=48236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}