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HomeNewsMain StoryLIKE  THE  PROVERBIAL PHOENIX, EDENBRIDGE CAPITAL  RISES FROM THE ASHES

LIKE  THE  PROVERBIAL PHOENIX, EDENBRIDGE CAPITAL  RISES FROM THE ASHES

Started by a team of three, lender defies great odds ( including  the Covid-19 pandemic)  to register phenomenal growth by being agile and innovative

By George Gichuki

Successful entrepreneurs are able to   remain faithful to their cause even when they are faced by  seemingly  insurmountable  obstacles. Armed with powerful business ideas and a knack for executing  them to excellence, they are not afraid of getting started with limited resources. Slowly but surely,  they are able to assemble talented teams, plough back  profits into their growing enterprises and overcome cutthroat competition. Resilience is their hallmark. Audacity is their stock in trade. Reuben Kimani, the Managing Director of Edenbridge Capital ( a very fast growing microfinance institution)   bears these entrepreneurial  traits. With a lot of fire in his belly, Reuben has built the reputable organization within a record period of time.

After ceasing to be the chief executive officer of a microfinance bank in Kenya, Reuben  decided to venture into business. Armed with a shoestring budget, he rented a tiny office in Nairobi’s central business and hired  two staff members in March 2019. “ My first office was measuring only ten by ten square feet,” he  reminiscences. “ Myopic as it might sound,  I kept  two seats  empty, hoping that I would hire their occupants once the business grew,” he adds with a chuckle. Back then, he never imagined that even at its peak, the business would be able to have more than four employees. You may believe it or not! In just four years, Edenbridge Capital has grown in leaps and bounds. The lender currently boasts of more than 7,426 customers, nine branches ( dubbed fulfilment centres) and ninety one members of staff. Going by its current momentum, these numbers will keep growing.

Maendeleo ya Wanawake Chairperson, Ruth Kawila, MSEA Chairperson James Mureu, Edenbridge Capital Director, Dr. Beth Kimathi
Muigai, Edenbridge Capital Chairman, Njuguna Ngumunu and Edgenridge Capital MD, Reuben Kimani during the logo reveal.

Target market

The fast growth of  Edenbridge Capital can mainly be attributed to the fact that it has curved a niche in the provision of financial products and services to micro, small and medium enterprises ( MSMEs) market segment. It is a dynamic sector which has employed thousands of Kenyans and contributes significantly to our socio-economic development. Unfortunately, many mainstream lenders shun the sector because it is viewed as  risky. “ Our customers borrow as little as Kshs. 2,500  to  Kshs. 10,000 in order  to finance their enterprises,” says Reuben. “ We focus on offering business loans to them  as opposed to consumer ones,” he adds.

Given the lender’s strong presence in the rural areas where  its major target market resides, it has developed  agribusiness loan products. The products are  based on the needs of various agriculture value chains including dairy and horticulture.  Currently, Edenbridge Capital  has nine fulfilment centres ( branches) based in the rural areas countrywide  and it is planning to open six more by the end of this year.

Milestones

According to Reuben, Edenbridge Capital is very keen on financial intermediation. To that end, it gives financial support to customers who want to boost their stock, grow their enterprises and expand to new locations and tender for government business. The lender has also established an insurance agency that is known as EBC. It  supports  customers with  motor, domestic and medical insurance packages among others. “ We have had a very exciting journey over the last four years,” says Reuben. “ The most exciting part is when we  successfully navigated through the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020,” he adds. He confesses that was the most challenging period in  his career and business.  All the operations of his business as well as customers  were adversely affected. “ It was like navigating through a fog  in a dark night but the most exciting thing is that we came together as a team, reinforced our corporate values and ultimately, weathered the ranging  storm,” he remarks adding that the most exciting thing about that experience is that in 2020, the business grew three fold ,   customer numbers increased  and more staff members were recruited.

Reuben notes that Edenbridge Capital    has assembled a young, energetic,  ambitious and innovative team whose average age is twenty six years.  By and large, this has contributed to the fast growth of the lender.  Additionally, in order to enhance corporate governance, the company has a highly experienced  board  that is headed by a chairman and a management team under the managing director. “ Our chairman for instance  has been in the finance world for the last forty years and  our head of audit committee has over thirty years’ experience,” he observes.  In order to track its financial performance effectively, the lender has engaged a tier two audit firm.  Most importantly, being in a business where prudent management  of  resources is  of  utmost importance,   integrity is one of its core values.

 According  to  Reuben, even though Edenbridge Capital  has not been in the microfinance business for a long period of time, it has laid the requisite foundation to enable it have a continental presence. “ Our vision is to play a critical role in inspiring job creation and innovation throughout the continent, while supporting businesses to achieve their goals,” he says.

Standing out       

Edenbridge Capital stands out because of engaging a very vibrant team of staff. “ This has enabled us to deliver exemplary customer experience,” says Reuben adding that they really value their customers and they develop products based on their needs.  Before advancing any loan product to  customers, they are  taken through the offering in order to  get identify the one that is  most suitable to their needs. After getting the loans, the customers are taken through training on financial literacy. The objective of this training is to make them financially disciplined as they strive to grow their businesses.  

The lender is in the process of launching a digital literacy programme targeting customers in the  MSMEs’ market segment. According to Reuben,  this programme has been developed in view of the fact that entrepreneurs in the said market segment can only grow their businesses if they manage their financial resources prudently by drawing a line between profits and working capital, doing projections and having budgets. Edenbridge Capital  will  bring a partner on board to roll out the  ambitious programme  in the third quarter of this year.

The ambitious  lender rebranded this year. This decision was informed by the fact that having been in business for the last four years, its model has stood the test of time. “ Our model has been proved right by the market and we are ready to face  the world,”  Reuben confidently says  adding that is what informed their decision to rebrand.  One of Edenbridge Capital’s corporate colours  is blue – representing professionalism and integrity. Colour orange  on the other hand symbolizes that  Edenbridge Capital’s brand is warm and approachable and it is the place where customers meet  all their financial needs. The new logo gives the lender a global outlook as it prepares to make an entry into new markets.

Edenbridge Capital MD, Reuben Kimani addressing a stakeholders’ forum.

Product offering

The flagship product for Edenbridge Capital is business loan. It is aimed at supporting entrepreneurs to start and scale up businesses and in the process create wealth not only for their households, but also our  country. Secondly, the agribusiness product helps customers  to acquire assets like milking  machines and  chaff cutters. Given that climate change has become a global threat, the lender is supporting its customers  to embrace irrigation by purchasing kits and water pumps, as opposed to relying on rain fed agriculture.

Edenbridge Capital has also developed products for the small and medium enterprises ( SMEs) market segment. For the ones engaged in international trade, the lender offers them import financing, duty financing as well as trade finance products like bid bonds, performance bonds and  advance payment guarantees.  “ We offer these products within the least time possible and at  very favourable terms,” Reuben avers.  

By the same token, Edenbridge Capital offers a unique asset financing product. Once the customer’s   documents are received and it  is   ensured  that they are in order, the facility is approved within six hours. Customers are therefore able to meet their needs within the shortest time possible. In order to enhance efficiency,  the lender is currently offering  a value chain driven application. It  has various players within the value chain – from the retailers , logistics up to the end user. By making the assets available to the customers efficiently and affordably, they are able to price them well, hence building the capacity of their businesses.  In the same vein, businesses and their respective owners face many risks and in order to mitigate them, insurance comes in handy. Edenbridge Capital ( through its agency)  offers its customers an array of insurance products ranging from motor, medical, last expense as well as fire and burglary. “ In the course of our business, one thing we have realized is that majority of Kenyans are just one medical bill away from facing poverty and in that regard, we have seen the need of offering our customers a medical cover,” says Reuben.

Edenbridge Capital has also developed a product dubbed Rent Zaidi  for  landlords.  “ The  unique value   proposition  of  this product  is  that we understand the  major pain points  of   most  landlords  including :  receiving   their rent on time,  having someone they can trust with their rent collection and  lengthy periods when they are negotiating for credit to expand their businesses in case they are short of cash,” observes Reuben. In that respect,   as an organization ,   using  the  data collected through this product,  they  are able to lend to landlords or give them access to capital.  The same data is used to evaluate  tenants before they occupy  the clients’  properties . Consequently,  they are able  to on board  the right tenants. This product has   enabled  landlords  to   collect more rent by driving efficiency.  “ By collecting more rent on time, landlords are able  to  get  more capital  to build  extra   units and renovate the current ones,” says Reuben.         

Embracing technology

According to Reuben, technology drives efficiency in all businesses. In that vein, going by the market trends, Edenbridge Capital has embraced technology. Currently, it is in the process of upgrading its system so that it becomes more  robust. “ We are onboarding an oracle based  system known as OBIT-R from the UK which will offer us stability, security and ability to scale since all our operations will be under one platform,” says Reuben.  “ This is a very  huge investment which  will drive our business even in the future and one of its capabilities is that it has optical recognition,” he adds. The system will create an avenue through which the  organization will go completely paperless. In that vein, its credit officers will be equipped with tablets that they will use to onboard customers so that their journey can be captured from the beginning to the end. In essence then, this system will enable Edenbridge Capital to offer more innovative products to its customers.

 Trends in the  microfinance sector

According to Reuben, microfinance not only focuses on financial intermediation, but also how well it can offer financial services to its target market. For instance, for  most of the customers in this sector, a medical  cover  may appear to be out of reach. Nevertheless, it  can be tailored in such a way that these customers  are able to  access it  by  paying   monthly instalments that are within their means.  That way, they are able to address their medical risk.  

The sector is also relying heavily on data analytics today in order to understand its customers in a better way and price their loan products according to their respective risks. “ After launching our robust system, we shall have proper credit scoring and analytics for our customers, that will help us to drive risk based lending among our customers,” Reuben observes.

After the enactment of the Data Protection Act, Edenbridge Capital has put in place various compliance measures. This will go a long way in safeguarding its customers’ data and by extension, their interest.

Edenbridge Capital Ltd 4th anniversary and logo reveal cake cutting session.

Road ahead

 “ The road ahead for Edenbridge Capital  is really exciting,” says Reuben.  “ We  have just successfully concluded our rebrand  and going by our new corporate identity, our customer promises are now more diverse,” he adds.  In the next  ten years, the lender is aiming at driving its  agenda of financial intermediation and entrepreneurship. After that, it will start expanding to the regional market, especially Rwanda and the Democratic  Republic of Congo ( DRC), before making an entry into South Africa.  

Edenbridge Capital is also keen on having more partnerships with various organizations ( both local and international) as it strengthens its business model and conquers more market share.

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