Mwalimu Sacco eyes informal sector financing with KNCCI pact

Mwalimu National Sacco CEO Kenneth Odhiambo, Chairman Joel Gachari, KNCCI Nairobi Chapter Chairman James Mwaura and Director Susan Kagundu, when KNCCI and the Sacco signed a strategic MoU, on May 13, 2026. [Wilberforce Okwiri, Standard]

Mwalimu National Sacco has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KNCCI), which aims at strengthening support for entrepreneurs, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and the wider business community.  

This will be achieved through financial inclusion, enterprise development and capacity-building initiatives. The move represents a diversification of its membership beyond the traditional teachers who form the majority of its members. 

The Sacco reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the business ecosystem by providing innovative financial products and tailored solutions to meet the evolving needs of SMEs and entrepreneurs. 

It said that the partnership aligns with its broader mission of promoting economic empowerment and inclusive growth. 

"We are already having MSMEs in a small way within our current membership. There are those members who actually do not rely on the payslip-based lending. We are already looking at their inflows in terms of the business that they are doing and have been able to lend them based on the inflows that we are seeing,” said Kennedy Odhiambo, chief executive, Mwalimu Sacco. 

“Actually, we are running even M-Pesa Paybill and till numbers. So they are able to channel the proceeds of their businesses here. So we look at them in terms of what it is that they can bring to access those MSME loans.” 

Odhiambo, who spoke at the MoU signing ceremony at the Sacco headquarters in Nairobi, added that going forward, they want to move more, not by size but by the greatest impact. 

He also said they will be leveraging the partnership to make the Mwalimu national Sacco brand more visible and appealing to the general public, particularly the SME sector. 

Mwalimu National Sacco chairman Joel Gachari said the move to bring in non-teaching members was mooted a few years ago, in 2023, when they opened their bond. 

“And that's why we are here, so that we can celebrate this partnership with KNCCI. As their chairman has said, they are so big in the informal sector. We want to see how we can also onboard the informal sector in the short run within the cooperative society and then go to manufacturing and the blue economy in the long run,” he said.

Gachari, who said loans to the informal sector  will be funded at the lowest interest rate of 12 per cent, will endeavour to employ good credit management to avoid non-performing loans, which are now common in the informal sector.

“Even the appraisal of the credit that we are going to give to the members in the informal sector is going to be tight to ensure that any amount of money that we give to the informal sector is collectible, and we are going to have some financial literacy programme with these members so that we can also guide them so that once you borrow, you spend wisely and you ensure that you pay promptly.”

KNCCI Nairobi leadership emphasised the importance of strategic collaborations in accelerating enterprise growth and creating sustainable economic opportunities for entrepreneurs across Nairobi County.