3rd National Credit Market Convention

Principal Secretary MSMEs Development joined financial-sector stakeholders at the 3rd National Credit Market Convention, organised by Metropol in Naivasha, under the theme “Building Connected Credit Ecosystems, Interoperable Platforms and Partnerships for Business Growth.”

For Kenya’s MSMEs to grow, create jobs and contribute more to our economy, they need access to affordable, sustainable growth capital. Expanding access to credit is therefore a key priority for the State Department for MSME Development.

Through the Hustler Fund, we have created credit profiles for over 28 million Kenyans, while more than 8 million Kenyans have been supported to rebuild their credit histories. We are now advancing the development of a National Credit Score, which will allow Kenyans with strong credit histories to use their creditworthiness as a trust signal when accessing higher levels of credit from formal financial institutions.

We are also working to incorporate non-financial alternative data, including agricultural management information, to generate alternative trust signals and enable more MSMEs that may lack traditional collateral to access financing.