Standard Chartered lines up Ksh.10 billion yearly SME fund

Standard Chartered Bank has unveiled a new Ksh.10 billion per year SME credit facility dubbed Solv Kenya.

The facility is a business to business (B2B) e-commerce platform that offers the micro, small and medium enterprises sector an inclusive trade eco-system.

The platform, for instance, facilitates connections between buyers and sellers, door delivery for goods, access to finance and business support functions.

The Standard Chartered Group-backed platform makes its debut in Africa by entering the Kenyan marketplace after a successful roll-out in India.

An estimated 100,000 MSMEs are expected to benefit from the Ksh.10 billion annual financing facility which is sent to fund the businesses’ working capital.

During its pilot in the country, Solv disbursed loans amounting to Ksh.150 million from a pre-approved credit line of Ksh.1 billion.

“We are very excited to go to market in a much bigger way following the successful pilot of our initial product. We are looking at signing up 10,000 businesses by the end of this year,” said Solv Kenya CEO Sheila Kimani.

The platform has signed pact with corporates including financiers to bringing MSMEs to its pipeline of credit.

Solv’s partners include Faulu, Gulf African Bank, Diageo, Lafarge, Procter & Gamble and Nokia.

Solv is owned by Standard Chartered’s innovation, fintech investment and ventures arm- SC Ventures.