NCBA convened over one hundred Nairobi-based small and medium enterprise (SME) traders for a high-impact financial literacy and advisory engagement. The focus of the meeting was strengthening business resilience, unlocking growth opportunities and deepening access to tailored financial solutions.
The forum brought together traders from key commercial hubs, including : Kirinyaga auto spares, Gikomba, Sheikh Karume, Nyamakima cereals and Kamukunji electronics, that are highly transactional, cash-driven and central to Nairobi’s economy. The session offered a highly interactive platform for the attendees to directly engage with NCBA experts on business financing, insurance, asset finance, leasing, cash management, trade finance and transactional banking solutions designed to support enterprise growth and sustainability.
Speaking during the engagement, NCBA group director SME banking, Mr. Robert Kiboti, reaffirmed the bank’s commitment to the sector as a critical driver of economic growth. “SMEs face persistent challenges around access to capital, financial planning and risk management. At NCBA, driven by our purpose to bank on belief and empower ambition, we are deliberately going beyond financing to equip traders with knowledge, advisory and ecosystem-based solutions that enable them to make informed decisions, scale sustainably and build resilient businesses.”
Strategic Priority
The engagement aligns with NCBA’s 2025 strategic priority of becoming the primary financial partner for retail and SME customers by driving customer obsession through personalised, sector-specific engagements. By convening SMEs within their respective business communities, the bank is fostering meaningful connections, facilitating high-value networking and positioning itself as a trusted long-term partner for enterprise growth.
“This session gave us practical insights we can immediately apply in our businesses, especially around managing cash flow and accessing financing that fits how we trade. It also showed us that NCBA understands our challenges and is willing to walk the journey with us as our businesses grow,” said one of the traders. Through these engagements, NCBA continues to reinforce its role in building a vibrant, well-informed business ecosystem, equipping entrepreneurs with practical financial intelligence, innovative solutions and strategic tools to thrive in a competitive and dynamic economy.
Solutions
Some of the key solutions that the traders were enlightened on included : business loans or working capital loans, property financing solutions such as commercial mortgages, construction loans or equity release loans. Others were asset finance solutions such as vehicle and equipment financing, auto equity loans, vehicle re-financing loans and Leasing loans. In addition, the traders learnt about business banking products such as: transaction and deposit accounts comprising current and savings accounts, fixed deposit accounts and call deposit accounts. The others were digital products which comprise online and mobile banking, merchant services – such as Lipa na M-Pesa, NCBA connect plus – a cash management platform for SMEs and NCBA Boosta, a digital lending solution of upto Kshs. 35 million, for SMEs looking for distributor financial services.
NCBA is cognizant of the fact that the SMEs are brimming with potential and therefore need a people who have consummate skills to contribute to this sector, while also providing an avenue for economic empowerment. During the engagement, they learn about the bank’s different capacity building programmes that the bank runs such as the Strathmore Business School partnership for Enterprise Development Programme – a ten week course tailored to meet and solve the needs and challenges that SMEs face; the African Guaranty Fund – Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA) Acceleration Programme that supports women led SMEs in accessing finance from NCBA and technical assistance to expand their business.
