According to Medical Credit Fund East Africa, director Kennedy Okongo, the project was developed in 2017 as a cash advance programme.
"The programme has proven to address some of the barriers women experience such as lack of collateral, and since then, the share of MCF loans disbursed to women grew from 19 per cent to almost 29 per cent, and keeps on increasing," he said.
The event was sponsored by the Swedish development finance institution, Swedfund.
"We could be financiers, but you are the only one who knows where the shoe pinches, which is why we offer blended financing that's tied to quality improvement because we believe MCF is not just about the money, it's about the life of the business," said Okongo.
MCF is a blended fund that works with a wide network of partners to provide health SMEs with loans and technical assistance so they can expand their businesses and invest in quality improvement.