This archive report was first published on 6 November 2019.
On November 6, 2019, the Kenya banking sector, under the Kenya Bankers Association (KBA), unveiled a credit platform for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) called Stawi.
Stawi is an unsecured digital credit scheme designed to improve access to credit for MSMEs, offering loans from KSh30,000 to KSh250,000 with repayment periods of 1 month to 12 months at an interest rate of nine percent per year.
Speaking at the launch, President Uhuru Kenyatta praised KBA's efforts in developing the Stawi product, stating it was a culmination of joint efforts by the government and the banking sector to provide affordable access to credit for MSMEs.
“Today, our efforts have borne fruit and I am confident we are going to restart this powerful engine of our economy. I take this opportunity to thank and also welcome our development partners to join us in finding solutions to grow our MSMEs,” the President said.
Kenya Bankers Association chairman Joshua Oigara explained that KBA member banks designed Stawi in response to calls for the industry to facilitate MSMEs access to finance.
“When compared with other mobile-based loans, you will recognize that the Stawi product is very competitively priced; in fact, Stawi is the lowest cost mobile loan for SMEs which will make it instrumental in making credit accessible to millions of business owners and youth entrepreneurs across the country,” he said.
Stawi is a solution designed for all entrepreneurs to improve access to credit aimed at growing or improving their business. The service provides entrepreneurs with a digital account for their business operations, allowing them to manage all payments and money made from their business.
So far, 80,000 SMEs customers have been signed on Stawi, which has been operating on a pilot basis until its official launch.
