Barclays Bank plans a new financing package for women entrepreneurs that will not require collateral for loans when bidding for government tenders.Barclays Bank Kenya CEO Mr Jeremy Awori said the bank has opened talks with the government for the plan , which is meant to ease women’s access to capital for growth and wealth creation.
“We are working with the government to see how we can lend without collateral to enable women take full advantage of the 30 per cent procurement rule,” said Mr Awori during a WTO conference curtain raiser for women entrepreneurs in Nairobi on Monday.
Mr Awory noted that women face hardships in accessing capital to finance start ups and expand their businesses.
The bank has committed Sh5 billion towards financing businesses run by women and separately committed to training 10,000 women in financial literacy and successful bidding for government tenders. Mr Awori said the bank will establish links with the Kenya Association of Women Business Owners, a lobby for Kenyan women entrepreneurs.
Source; Barclays Bank
