In Nairobi, October 19, 2022, Asante Financial Services (EA) Limited was pleased to announced its partnership with Solv Kenya, a member company of Standard Chartered Banking Group, which is a platform that empowers micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) through access to affordable credit, by providing much-needed just-in-time financing to MSMEs in Kenya.
With over 10 million MSMEs in Kenya, this partnership will help bridge the gap for many of these businesses who face unique challenges in obtaining formal and competitively priced credit. This partnership will help reduce the financial burden on MSMEs, thereby promoting growth, jobs and sustainability while boosting the Kenyan economy.
Solv Kenya is a B2B Marketplace backed by SC Ventures, Standard Chartered’s Innovation fintech investment and ventures arm. The full stack platform is committed to empowering businesses through provision of access to new markets as well as resolve operational challenges and most importantly connect these MSMES to financial service providers.
Asante Financial Services EA Limited has been supporting MSMEs in Kenya since 2018 and has committed a credit line of over KES1B for the pilot phase of this partnership.
According to the World Bank, the annual SME credit gap in Sub Saharan Africa is about US$330Billion. MSMEs have a significant impact on the economies of most countries, especially emerging markets, representing 90% of all businesses, 66% of all jobs created and 50% of the world’s GDP. That does not suffice to create the much-desired inclusion and it is through partnerships such as these that we are able to bridge this gap and empower the growing businesses. Through this platform, MSMEs will benefit from alternative credit scoring and therefore ease of access to much needed working capital that will be provided by Asante FSG.
Asante FSG is at the forefront of facilitating inclusive economic growth in Africa through the provision of much needed financial services to growing businesses in the continent.
George Maingi, Asante Financial Services East Africa CEO “We are excited to be a part of this partnership and look forward to working with Solv Kenya to empower Kenyan businesses by unlocking their potential. Asante FSG is driven by its passion to see to the growth of the MSME sector in Africa. It is through strategic partnerships such as this one with SOLV Kenya that we are able to extend our reach to the MSME and build them through affordable credit”
Sheila Kimani, Solv Kenya’s CEO: “We are very excited to go to market with our various partners in a much bigger way now following a successful pilot of our initial product, Supply Chain Financing, which has seen over 3,800 MSMEs and more than 10 multinational companies participating and engaging on the platform in ways that have altered the course of MSME business in Kenya. We are looking at signing up 10,000 businesses by the end of this year.”