This archive report was first published on 29 June 2020.
On June 29, 2020, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) announced a $50 million loan to Equity Bank, Kenya's second-largest bank by assets, to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The loan, which is part of the IFC's efforts to support lenders during the crisis, will allow Equity Bank to maintain lending to SMEs that have been hard hit by the economic effects of the pandemic.
Equity Bank channels about 65% of its loan book to SMEs, and the loan will enable the bank to make new loans to customers, including those with between 10 and 300 employees or annual sales of Sh10 million to Sh1.5 billion.
The loan size to each borrower will range from Sh1 million to Sh200 million, and the loan will rank above other loans with regard to claims on the bank's assets.
Equity Bank had borrowed up to Sh17.4 billion from the IFC as of December 2019, and the upcoming credit line will push the figure to Sh22.7 billion.
