EQUITY BANK (KENYA) LIMITED NASIRA PORTFOLIO (FMO-60112)

Countries
  • Kenya
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Financial Institutions
  • Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO)
International, regional and national development finance institutions. Many of these banks have a public interest mission, such as poverty reduction.
Project Status
Approved
Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.
Bank Risk Rating
A
Environmental and social categorization assessed by the development bank as a measure of the planned project’s environmental and social impacts. A higher risk rating may require more due diligence to limit or avoid harm to people and the environment. For example, "A" or "B" are risk categories where "A" represents the highest amount of risk. Results will include projects that specifically recorded a rating, all other projects are marked ‘U’ for "Undisclosed."
Voting Date
Dec 23, 2020
Date when project documentation and funding is reviewed by the Board for consideration and approval. Some development banks will state a "board date" or "decision date." When funding approval is obtained, the legal documents are accepted and signed, the implementation phase begins.
Borrower
Equity Bank
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Finance
The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.
Investment Type(s)
Guarantee
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 69.13 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Bank Documents
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ FMO website

Updated in EWS Dec 8, 2023


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Project Description
If provided by the financial institution, the Early Warning System Team writes a short summary describing the purported development objective of the project and project components. Review the complete project documentation for a detailed description.

Equity Bank (Kenya) Limited ("EBK") is a fully owned subsidiary of Equity Group Holdings Plc ("EGH"), a non-operating holding company (the "Group"), one of the largest financial service groups in East Africa. Since 2006, the Group is listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange and operates in seven markets in East and Central Africa (Kenya, DRC, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and South Sudan, including a representative office in Ethiopia). EBK, which is the flagship Bank of the Group, was founded in 1984 in Nairobi and originally acted as a provider of mortgage financing for the low-income population. In 2004, it transformed into a commercial bank becoming today the No. 2 Bank in Kenya by size. The Bank offers a broad range of financial products and services for retail and business clients and historically has a special focus on SME's and Micro SME's.

FMO will provide a revolving unfunded (NASIRA) portfolio guarantee covering loans provided to MSMEs affected by the COVID-19 crisis (including female, young and agricultural entrepreneurs).

FMO aspires to build a strong relationship with EBK along the mutual strategy of sustainable commercial development through financing MSMEs in Kenya's real economy (including Young, Female and COVID-19 affected entrepreneurs), thereby enabling those companies to invest in their businesses, create jobs and contribute to the overall economic development and growth of the economy.

Equity Bank (Kenya) Limited is a longstanding client of FMO. EBK is classified as E&S Category A in accordance with the EDFI E&S Standards. The clients in EBK's portfolio are active in sectors which have potential significant and adverse environmental and social impacts, such as mining & quarrying, agriculture and energy & water. E&S risk management is maturing at EBK, which will be enhanced following actions agreed in the E&S action plan that is part of this facility. EBK recently set up an E&S risk department which resulted in a significant increase in internal E&S capacity to mitigate the negative E&S impacts of its financing activities. New hires and a focus on ESG communications and reporting are expected to further strengthen ESMS implementation.

Investment Description
Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.
Financial Intermediary
A financial intermediary is a bank or financial institution that receives funds from a development bank. A financial intermediary then lends these funds to their clients (private actors) in the form of loans, bonds, guarantees and equity shares. Financial intermediaries include insurance, pension and equity funds. The direct financial relationship is between the development bank and the financial intermediary.
Private Actor Relationship
A Private Actor is a non-governmental body or entity that is the borrower or client of a development project, which can include corporations, private equity and banks. This describes the private actors and their roles in relation to the project, when private actor information is disclosed or has been further researched.

FMO NV

Private Actors Description
A Private Actor is a non-governmental body or entity that is the borrower or client of a development project, which can include corporations, private equity and banks. This describes the private actors and their roles in relation to the project, when private actor information is disclosed or has been further researched.

Equity Bank (Kenya) Limited ("EBK") is a fully owned subsidiary of Equity Group Holdings Plc ("EGH"), a non-operating holding company (the "Group"), one of the largest financial service groups in East Africa. Since 2006, the Group is listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange and operates in seven markets in East and Central Africa (Kenya, DRC, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and South Sudan, including a representative office in Ethiopia). EBK, which is the flagship Bank of the Group, was founded in 1984 in Nairobi and originally acted as a provider of mortgage financing for the low-income population. In 2004, it transformed into a commercial bank becoming today the No. 2 Bank in Kenya by size. The Bank offers a broad range of financial products and services for retail and business clients and historically has a special focus on SME's and Micro SME's.


Contact Information
This section aims to support the local communities and local CSO to get to know which stakeholders are involved in a project with their roles and responsibilities. If available, there may be a complaint office for the respective bank which operates independently to receive and determine violations in policy and practice. Independent Accountability Mechanisms receive and respond to complaints. Most Independent Accountability Mechanisms offer two functions for addressing complaints: dispute resolution and compliance review.

South Africa
+27 11 507 2500
joburg-office@fmo.nl

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

As part of FMO's ex-ante disclosure (disclosure of transactions before contracting), you can send requests or questions for additional information to: disclosure@fmo.nl

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF FMO

Communities who believe they will be negatively affected by a project funded by the Dutch Development Bank (FMO) may be able to file a complaint with the Independent Complaints Mechanism, which is the joint independent accountability mechanism of the Dutch Development Bank (FMO) and the German Investment Corporation (KfW). A complaint can be filed in writing, by email, post, or online. The complaint can be filed in English or any other language of the complainant. The Independent Complaints Mechanism is comprised of a three-member Independent Expert Panel and it can provide either problem-solving, compliance review or both, in either order. Additional information about this accountability mechanism, including a guide and template for filing a complaint, can be found at: https://www.fmo.nl/independent-complaints-mechanism

How it works

How it works