DTB launches financial literacy training for women-owned SMEs

Diamond Trust Bank (DTB) has rolled out a financial literacy programme targeting women-owned businesses in a bid to help them expand their ventures.

The lender’s sales director, Dr Kennedy Nyakomitta, said the initiative intends to build small and medium enterprises’ muscles in financial and human resource management, strategic planning, marketing and communication to enable them to do business better and attract the kind of finances they need to expand.

Through an account dubbed Zawadi, women will be able to access credit on favourable terms to grow their businesses, even as Diamond Trust Banks works towards growing its customer base.

“The Zawadi account is specifically tailored to enhance financial literacy for women-owned businesses and inculcate necessary skills required to run their businesses effectively to enable them to take advantage of the financial opportunities offered by banks,” said Dr Nyakomitta said.

Through the programme, customers will also be able to understand and effectively use financial skills such as personal financial management, budgeting, and investing to scale up their firms.

Special account

The lender has also introduced Chama, a special account for small savings groups, which will enable SMEs that open either of the accounts with DTB to access a credit facility after six months.

“We have also launched the Chama account to encourage groups and collectives to venture into enterprise development, with the help of DTB. This is in line with our ongoing expansion efforts across the country, as we seek to be more present with our communities,” he added.

Traders will also receive training from DTB on the various financial products and services available to enable them to grow their businesses.

The Central Bank of Kenya last year reported that at least 35 per cent of micro-enterprises were wiped out by the Covid-19 pandemic by July 2021, revealing the vulnerability of businesses forming over 90 per cent of Kenya’s economy- the micro and small enterprises.

Several initiatives have recently been launched to support SMEs including a State-backed credit guarantee scheme through which more than Sh4billion has been disbursed by banks to support small businesses.

A recent release by the National Treasury said by August 2022, a total of 2,609 businesses small businesses had taken loans amounting to Sh4.12 billion since the scheme was launched about a year ago. The credit guarantee scheme encourages banks to disburse credit to borrowers they would otherwise turn away, confident that they will be compensated in case of defaults.

By Linet Owoko and Seph Openda