Equity Group invests Sh99.5b in social impact and sustainability

Equity Group CEO James Mwangi (centre) and Equity Bank Kenya MD Moses Nyabanda (right) during the launch of the 2025 Sustainability Report in Nairobi. [James Wanzala, Standard]

Equity Group Holdings Plc invested a total of Sh99.5 billion in social impact and sustainability initiatives across its regional markets in 2025.

This is according to its 2025 Sustainability Report, released in Nairobi on Thursday.

The report, themed “A Sustainable World is a Transformed Africa,” highlights the Group’s work in enterprise development, education, healthcare, financial inclusion, climate action and responsible business practices.

The company said it continues to integrate sustainability into its business strategy, governance, risk management and operations through its tri-engine model, which combines economic performance, social impact and sustainability to support long-term value creation.

Equity Group Chief Executive James Mwangi said the Group’s 2025 performance reflected the deliberate relationship between commercial success and sustainable development, saying the two are not competing priorities, but mutually reinforcing drivers of long-term prosperity.

“The stronger our business becomes, the greater our capacity to invest in people, enterprises and communities, while building resilience across the markets we serve. Through our investments, partnerships and innovation, we are translating our purpose of transforming lives, giving dignity and expanding opportunities for wealth creation across Africa into measurable, enduring impact,” Mwangi said.

The investment was channelled under the social protection pillar, particularly in extending financial assistance and economic opportunities to vulnerable populations, including refugees.

Through access to finance, cash transfers, and capacity-building initiatives, Equity sought to strengthen household resilience and support economic participation among underserved communities.

The social protection programmes reached 5.94 million people, with Sh173.5 billion disbursed through cash transfers; 115 refugees were financed through Sh57.9 million in loans and 772 refugees received training.

“This demonstrates how social protection can extend beyond immediate assistance to include access to credit and skills that support livelihoods and economic resilience,” said Julius Kamau, Acting Group Director for Sustainability, while presenting the report.

He said the company continues to support enterprise growth and financial inclusion through access to finance, business training and financial education.

Under its Enterprise Development and Financial Inclusion programme, Sh404 billion was disbursed to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises.

Equity Group CEO James Mwangi and German Ambassador to Kenya Sebastian Groth during the launch of the 2025 Sustainability Report in Nairobi. [James Wanzala, Standard]

Local suppliers accounted for 90 per cent of its procurement spending in 2025, earning Sh47.59 billion, up from Sh41.5 billion in 2024.

“Our responsibility is to continue to turn potential into productive opportunity while protecting the natural systems that make prosperity possible. That means directing finance towards resilience, creating value within our economies, and ensuring that people and nature are not treated as afterthoughts in development. That is the promise of the theme we share today.”

Sebastian Groth, German Ambassador to Kenya, said strong partnerships between governments, the private sector and development institutions are essential to achieving sustainable development at scale.

“The days of traditional aid are behind us and we are moving from a relationship of giving to one of investing in a shared future on equal footing,” said Groth.

“By focusing on renewable energy, local value addition, and catalytic climate finance, Equity Group is demonstrating that sustainability is not a luxury for the few, but the very engine of transformation for the many."

"Our goal in development cooperation is to use public funds to mobilise private capital. In simpler terms, we provide the spark, but the private sector provides the scale and keeps the fire burning,” Nasra Nanda, Built Environment Lead at the Executive Office of the President, said, congratulating Equity Group on its sustainability journey.

She lauded the financial sector’s role in advancing sustainable construction, supporting SMEs in the built environment and integrating nature-based resilience into investment decisions.

“Sustainability is not only necessary but deeply practical: a home is only truly affordable if a family can afford to live in it over time, and an investment is stronger when the asset can withstand the conditions it will face throughout its life,” said Nanda, who is also chief executive officer of Kenya Green Building Council.

“If nature is central to life, it must be central to how we plan, build and invest, and financial institutions have a decisive role to play in making resilient, sustainable construction accessible and inclusive for ordinary borrowers.”

Through the Equity Group Foundation (EGF), the Group has cumulatively trained 962,924 MSMEs in entrepreneurship and 2,490,471 women and young people in financial education, supporting business development, financial resilience and access to opportunities for individuals and enterprises across the Group’s markets.

In agriculture, it scaled its support for smallholder farmers and agri-enterprises through climate-smart agricultural financing, capacity building, and value chain integration, reaching 622,525 small and medium-sized farmers.

These interventions enhanced food security, increased on-farm productivity, and de-risked agricultural production across regional breadbaskets.

Education and skills development under the Group’s social investment saw 60,009 scholarships given, including 29,515 university scholars, 4,039 technical and vocational education and training (TVET) scholars and 1,115 global scholars.

It has also facilitated 9,772 paid internships, supporting the transition from education to employment.

The EGF continued to expand partnerships with IamtheCODE Foundation, Huawei ICT Academy, WorldQuant University, Amazon Web Services and Moringa School to advance technology and digital skills development.

Through the Equity Leaders Programme (ELP), 415 innovators secured employment following a 12-month Tech Apprenticeship Programme, providing a pathway into the digital workforce.

Equity Afya, the Group’s medical franchise network, expanded its footprint to 150 outpatient medical centres across Kenya from 132 in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), recording over 4.62 million cumulative patient visits.

It deployed more than Sh26 billion in sustainable and climate-aligned finance during 2025, supporting climate-related solutions across its markets.

More than 47,000 climate-related transactions were recorded under the IFC Climate Adaptation Finance Initiative.

Environmental initiatives included the distribution of 75,855 clean energy products and the planting of 9.1 million trees during the year.

These activities brought the Group’s cumulative tree-planting total to 44.6 million, exceeding its target of 35 million, as it also continues to track its greenhouse gas emissions, energy and water consumption and environmental impact.

Through its local subsidiary Equity Bank (Kenya) Limited and the source of the majority of Group revenue, it published its inaugural Sustainable Development Impact Disclosure Report (SDID), described in the report as Africa’s second, as part of its work to strengthen sustainability measurement and reporting.

The Group continued to integrate environmental, social, governance, climate and nature-related considerations into credit decisions, operations and risk management.

Its frameworks include environmental and social risk screening, enhanced due diligence for high-risk sectors, climate scenario analysis, and stress testing.

The Group is also strengthening disclosure controls and its readiness to implement International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) S1 and S2 sustainability disclosure standards.

“These remain areas for continued development as it works to improve the quality and consistency of non-financial reporting,” said Kamau.

The Group’s workforce grew to 13,370 employees in 2025. Total employee training reached 989,152 hours, with average training hours per employee rising to 74 from 45 in 2024.

The number of employees with disabilities increased to 67 from 54 in 2024, while net employment turnover declined to 10.6 per cent from 11.1 per cent in the previous year.

Equity Group’s sustainability strategy is implemented across its banking, insurance, technology and foundation operations in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, South Sudan and the DRC, alongside its representative office in Ethiopia.

The 2025 Sustainability Report sets out the Group’s performance across these areas and the continued integration of economic, social and environmental considerations into its business and operations.

Its 2030 targets include raising the share of the loan book allocated to food and agriculture to 30 per cent, MSMEs to 65 per cent and to manufacturing to 15 per cent and doubling the Equity Afya clinic network to 300 clinics.

In 2025, MSMEs accounted for 56.6 per cent of the bank’s loan book, up from 50.1 per cent in 2023, while the share of lending to women rose to 23.9 per cent from 18 per cent over the same period.