KINGDOM BANK AND SINAPIS JOIN HANDS TO TRAIN ENTREPRENEURS

Kingdom Bank through the KB Growth Hub recently  hosted at least  forty  local entrepreneurs for a training and business consulting clinic. This initiative was in  partnership with Sinapis – a social enterprise that empowers micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) through coaching and training.  The full-day consulting services session saw MSME owners and directors engage with experts to assess their business needs and understand their pain points from the sales and marketing, digital marketing, finance and tax perspectives.

Speaking during the training, Kingdom Bank head of SME banking, Francis Thuo said :  “Kingdom Bank is an MSME-focused bank, and we are partnering with our customers to upskill them and enhance their capacity by  extending  training and professional consulting services as a way of de-risking them and enhancing their business performance.”  He added :  “  We aim to ensure that these MSMEs have access to affordable credit facilities critical for their business growth in the long run.”

Impact

Through the KB Growth Hub, the bank which is a subsidiary of the Co-operative Bank of Kenya, has in quarter two of 2023 trained a total of seven hundred  MSMEs who have since accessed short and long-term business loans to the tune of Kshs. 40 million.  This demonstrates that the training sessions  have been impactful.

In that same regard, Yvette Ondachi, Sinapis regional director for East Africa said :  “We recognise that MSMEs are key drivers of trade and employment creation  and this is why consultants from Sinapis have  sat with these entrepreneurs to practically diagnose their business issues and extend professional advice.”  She added : “  This will go a long way in empowering them to accelerate their growth and model their businesses to face the future confidently.”

Unique

The training and consultation was done uniquely with the entrepreneurs having a brief business diagnosis session upon arrival and a systematic rotation to engage with the five  consultation stations that hosted the bank’s  sales and marketing, digital marketing, finance and tax experts.

In addition, Kingdom Bank has also put in place measures to support the MSMEs post-training through regular engagement and support from dedicated relationship managers stationed at  its head  office and  nineteen branches.  “As a bank, our strategy goes beyond offering financial services to our customers and that is why we established the KB Growth Hub to be our implementing arm for these MSME trainings,” said Thuo adding  that  the initiative is sponsored by the bank and its   business customers have access to the same as well as other additional training materials.