MSME loans up by Sh224 billion in three years

Dorothy Akoth sorts her fresh dagaa harvested from Lake Victoria in Litare beach Homa bay county. Women along the beach have dominated the onshore post-harvest sector and they are the main actors for small-scale processing of the commodity. Omena which is rich in calcium and Vitamin A is caught by fishermen and landed at the lake site where it is mainly sold by women. [Collins Oduor, Standard]

Loans uptake by small businesses has increased by 15 per cent in the last three years, helped by aggressive marketing by commercial and microfinance banks.

Data from Central Bank of Kenya shows micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) had borrowed Sh638 billion as of December 2020 compared to Sh413.9 billion at the same time in 2017.