Women Enterprise Fund to resume giving loans mid March

WEF acting Chief Executive Raphael Kimolo. [Edward Kiplimo, Standard]

The Women Enterprise Fund (WEF) has said loan disbursement will resume around mid-next month.

The fund stopped lending in September last year to review the lending process and get views from beneficiaries to help improve its systems.

WEF acting Chief Executive Raphael Kimolo said the first three months were a piloting phase to learn some lessons including whether the controls and processes were working.

"We realised the controls were not working and now we have been able to do discussions, come up with policies on how we are going to lend going forward, with plan to increase the loan amount from Sh50,000 and the repayment period," he said during the launch of the WEF's 2023-2027 strategic plan in Nairobi on Friday.

In March 2023, President William Ruto launched the WEF digital loan platform, which gives women groups access to Sh50,000 loans repayable within a month at six per cent interest rate.

The strategic plan, according to WEF Board Chairperson Jane Lang'at, seeks to grow the fund value from the current Sh4.5 billion to Sh10 billion in the next five years.

Dr Lang'at said the plan is a roadmap to the future and a testament to their collective commitment to excellence, innovation and good sustainability of the fund.

"The strategic plan is in response to the Kenya Kwanza government's Bottom Up Economic Transformation Agenda. Among other objectives apart from the fund growth is financial inclusion, capacity building, market accessibility and institutional strengthening as key result areas."