Kingdom Bank partners with AWEP Kenya to boost women-led businesses

Kingdom Bank, a subsidiary of Co-operative Bank of Kenya, has partnered with the African Women's Entrepreneurship Programme (AWEP) Kenya to revitalise women-led enterprises.

The move comes as data shows women-owned businesses receive only Sh354 for every Sh1,000 extended to male-owned firms.

The partnership, launched yesterday in Nairobi, aims to connect women-led SMEs with tailored financial products, business development support and market access opportunities through Faidi Dada, Kingdom Bank's flagship women's banking solution.

The memorandum of understanding outlines a framework of joint programming, financial literacy initiatives, preferential banking access for AWEP members and a recurring "Funded & Fearless" series to be rolled out across Kenyan counties.

AWEP Kenya is the Kenya Chapter of a US State Department-founded initiative committed to equipping African businesswomen and SMEs with tools, networks and opportunities to accelerate business growth and drive economic progress.

"This partnership is a declaration that AWEP Kenya's women entrepreneurs deserve a seat at the financial table and that Kingdom Bank is ready to pull that chair out for them," said Eunice Mwongera, Board Chairperson of AWEP Kenya in a statement.

"We are building something that will outlast this room and reach women across every county in Kenya."

"Together with AWEP Kenya, Kingdom Bank is deepening its commitment to women entrepreneurs through Faidi Dada, our dedicated women banking platform," said Millycent Madegwa, Head of Institutional Banking at Kingdom Bank, representing Managing Director Anthony Mburu.

"Through Faidi Dada, customers will access loans on competitive terms, enabling women-owned businesses to grow, scale and create lasting economic impact."

The partnership comes as Kingdom Bank, a niche financial institution serving the unique needs of MSMEs and retail clients, deepens its commitment to underserved segments through aggressive branch expansion.

The lender recently opened its 28th branch in Nairobi's Industrial Area, one of the country's most concentrated hubs of manufacturing, logistics and trade, as it reaps rewards from a strategy of expanding into commercial hubs and informal trading centres.

The bank has opened seven new branches since early 2024, including in Gikomba, Kitale, Meru, Machakos, Bungoma, Kariobangi and Tom Mboya.

The expansion bucks an industry trend of branch closures as larger rivals pivot to digital platforms. "We are going where the customers are, delivering value where it matters most," Mburu said earlier.

The expansion comes as Kingdom Bank reported a 59 per cent surge in full-year profit to Sh946.2 million for 2025, up from Sh596.4 million a year earlier, driven by increased lending to MSMEs.

Total assets expanded 24 per cent to Sh51.17 billion, while net loans and advances jumped 58 per cent to Sh22.19 billion.

Customer deposits rose 39 per cent to Sh29.74 billion, reflecting growing confidence among small-scale traders, farmers and informal sector players – segments that constitute 98 per cent of local businesses.

The AWEP partnership comes against a backdrop of persistent gender disparities in access to finance. According to the Kenya Bankers Association, women account for 48 per cent of MSME borrowers, only slightly behind men at 52 per cent. Yet of the roughly Sh613 billion in outstanding MSME credit, women hold just 26 per cent.

The average loan for women-owned businesses stands at Sh391,600, compared with Sh741,600 for male-owned firms.

The International Finance Corporation, the World Bank's private sector arm, estimates that only seven per cent of women-owned micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in Kenya have formal access to finance.

Female borrowers accounted for less than a third of all loans disbursed by Kenyan lenders over the five years to December 2023, despite being better re-payers of their loans than male borrowers.

Data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics shows women own more than 7.4 million MSMEs, representing nearly half of all registered businesses in the country.

These businesses are crucial job creators, contributing an estimated 20 per cent to Kenya's GDP. However, fewer than 12 per cent of Kenya's formal exporters are women-led enterprises, with women-owned firms accounting for less than eight per cent of total export earnings.

The financing gap for MSMEs is estimated at nearly 21 per cent of GDP, according to the IFC.

Limited access to affordable credit remains one of the key barriers preventing small businesses from expanding operations, creating jobs, and investing in productivity-enhancing initiatives.

"Small businesses are the backbone of Kenya's economy, creating jobs, generating income, and driving innovation in communities across the country," said Mary Porter Peschka, IFC Division Director for Eastern Africa. "Through these partnerships, IFC is helping expand access to finance for entrepreneurs who have traditionally been underserved by the financial system".

In December 2025, Kenya formally adopted the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Code, a global initiative aimed at closing the gender financing gap for women-led MSMEs.

The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) Deputy Governor Susan a champion of women empowerment said the framework "catalyses new financial and non-financial mechanisms to meet the needs of women-led MSMEs and mobilises capital, while improving standards, policies and regulations to address data gaps and financing constraints".

Kenyan banks more than doubled new lending to MSMEs in 2025, advancing Sh326.5 billion against an annual target of Sh150 billion shillings, according to the Kenya Bankers Association.

The partnership launch event, themed "Funded & Fearless: Access the Finance Your Business Deserves," convened an exclusive cohort of growth-ready women entrepreneurs from AWEP Kenya's membership. It featured a keynote address from Joram Mwinamo, Group CEO and co-founder of SNDBX International, who drew from decades of her experience at the highest levels of East African business.

Future editions of the Funded & Fearless series are planned for additional counties, taking the conversation to women entrepreneurs across Kenya's key economic regions.