Kiambu targets youth with Sh200,000 business start-up loans

Kiambu youths
targets
youth with
Sh200,000
business start-up
loans
Machel Waikenda, Kiambu county executive in
charge of youth and sports
Kiambu County is betting on a new mobile loan
solution to promote entrepreneurship among the
youth by ensuring they secure capital to start
income-generating projects.
The mobile banking platform called Kiambu
Biashara Fund Mobile Loan will see existing
small and micro enterprises as well as start-ups
get affordable capital to start or expand their
businesses.
The county has allocated the initiative, which
was launched last week, Sh100 million to be
disbursed in form of soft loans ranging between
Sh100 and Sh200,000 depending on individual’s
eligibility.
Biashara Fund Mobile Loans will attract an
interest rate of one per cent irrespective of the
amount borrowed.
The solution has been introduced under the
county’s Biashara Fund, a Sh400 million
revolving fund created to enable youth, women
and persons with disability access to financing.
The project is being implemented in partnership
with KCB Group, which will be the custodian of
the fund. No collateral will be needed for this
facility.
Machel Waikenda, county executive in charge of
youth and sports, said interested applicants will
only be required to open a personal bank
account through the KCB M-Pesa account on
their mobile phones.
The accounts will be used to deposit loans to the
successful applicants, who, Mr Waikenda said,
will have to maintain a good repayment track
record to continue enjoying the loan or increase
their loan limits.
“Those (applicants) who will keep a good
repayment record will gradually raise their loan
limits up to Sh200, 000,” said Mr Waikenda.
“Those who will not will be denied loans while
defaulters will be reported to Credit Reference
Bureau to ensure they will not be able to access
any loan from whatever formal source.”
Mr Waikenda said the fund was a major boost to
the youth grappling with joblessness since with
good business proposals, they will easily apply
for capital while the existing entrepreneurs can
get money to expand their businesses.
County Youth and Sports Affairs chief officer
Marie Mugo said borrowers will have to first
apply for Sh10,000 or less but this limit will then
gradually increase to a maximum Sh200,000.
The county targets 6,000 applicants in the first
month of which 100 would be from each of the
60 wards, she said.
To ensure that only Kiambu residents benefit
from the loan, county youth officers and
Biashara Fund committee will vet the applicants
at the ward level.
“The interested borrowers will have to visit their
respective ward administrators’ offices where
their personal details will be confirmed by the
relevant officers before being fed into a system,”
said Mr Waikenda.
“From there on, they can be applying for the
loans without necessarily visiting any county
offices to seek approval.”
He said they are working on a programme that
will ensure that they are able to ascertain that
applicants are from Kiambu without having them
going through the physical vetting exercise,
which he acknowledged is tedious.