Unilever Kenya has pulled resources, in conjunction with KCB Bank Group and Mastercard, to cushion micro-retailers against credit challenges and enable them to serve their customers better.
“In these challenging economic times, we all must cut back on expenses to stay afloat. The world is grappling with high inflation rates as the prices of essential commodities continue to rise sharply. Some of the worst-hit in our society are the micro and medium-sized enterprises which thrive in the informal economy and are fundamentally vital in serving the mainstream consumer,” said Luck Ochieng, Managing Director at Unilever Kenya.
Unilever and the two financial institutions are behind the innovative financial inclusion solution known as Jaza Duka, where small and medium-sized retailers are enabled to purchase goods on credit, interest-free for up to 17 days.
Currently, more than 14,000 stores in Kenya have signed up for Jaza Duka, with more expected to join across the country and get this much-needed assistance to overcome cash shortages that hurt their ability to buy and sell more and eventually grow their businesses.
Jaza Duka, the Swahili word for filling up your store, is MasterCard’s track microcredit program. It is a global program inclusive of the credit ecosystem for small retailers that helps them overcome cash constraints and enables them to access short-term credit.
As countries worldwide forge towards economic recovery, enabling small businesses to recover quickly is key to economic restoration and growth.
Unilever will provide the stockups to retailers
The Jaza Duka program combines data distribution from Unilever and analysis by Mastercard to provide micro-credit eligibility recommendations to KCB Bank, which then uses the information to assess a retailer’s creditworthiness and extend formal credit for stock purchases.
“In essence we want to empower our SME retailers to buy what they can sell rather than what they can afford,” said Ochieng.
