This archive report was first published on 14 July 2021.
On July 12, 2021, Unaitas Kenya announced that it had secured KSh1 billion in funding from Dutch private equity firm Oikocredit to support small businesses in the agribusiness sector.
The funding, which will be repaid over six years, will enable Unaitas to offer loans to over 5,000 farmers' groups and cooperatives, individual farmers, farm input dealers, and transporters.
According to Unaitas, the funds are part of the two firms' efforts to help businesses recover from the economic fallout caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to massive layoffs, pay cuts, and shutdowns amid a decline in sales and customer traffic.
Unaitas noted that it will factor in the loan risk profile of businesses before lending out, in order to protect the investment at a time of heightened default rates. The default rate soared to 14.2% at the end of April 2021, up from 12.5% at the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020.
