[Kenya] SBM Bank, GIZ, and Tactive train women on digital entrepreneurship

40 women-led small businesses received training today on using technology to grow their digital businesses.

The training opportunity, hosted by SBM Bank, German Development Agency GIZ, and business consulting firm Tactive Group is part of the partnership’s strategic agenda to unlock women’s potential and create a more resilient, inclusive, and equal society.

It comes after a GIZ survey found that, despite the expanding e-commerce boom, most women-led firms have struggled to grow their enterprises online. Kenya is the 54th largest eCommerce market in the world, according to eCommerce market analysts’ eCommerce DB, recording an eCommerce revenue of US$2 billion in 2021, up 44 percent from the previous year, and contributing to the global growth rate of 29 percent in 2021.

SBM Bank Kenya’s Deputy Chief Executive Officer Jotham Mutoka pointed out that the training could help the entrepreneurs diversify their supply base and reach new markets. “Digital literacy is a new currency for business success and an essential skill for women entrepreneurs in these changing times,” he said. That is why we are driven to enable more women in receiving the skills they need to accomplish their business goals

Aside from digital training, the effort provided critical financial and non-financial services that Kenyan women require to thrive, such as addressing women’s need to save, borrow, invest, and protect their assets, as well as providing women with access to education, information, networking opportunities, and wellness.

SBM Bank Kenya’s Women Markets Senior Manager Abdia Adan Dabaso, speaking at the program, linked the initiatives to the bank’s mission to create partnerships with women by empowering them financially and non-financially. “We feel it is beneficial to the economy to invest in women and women-owned enterprises.” When a woman is at the helm of a business, she considers all aspects of it, not only profit, but also the environment, people, and processes.”

Within the last year, SBM Bank Kenya has empowered over 4000 women-led businesses by providing loans, designating some procurement for women, mentoring programs firms, and making information on tenders it is floating easily accessible.