I&M Bank gets $50m for Kenya, Rwanda expansion
Saturday February 03 2018
I&M Bank Kenya CEO Kihara Maina (left) and EIB executive Robert Schofield (right) sign the line of credit. PHOTO | FILE
I&M Bank has received $50 million from international lenders to expand its operations in Kenya and Rwanda.
The European Investment Bank on Wednesday announced a $40 million financing facility to I&M to support investment in Kenya.
The agreement which was inked in Nairobi by I&M Bank Kenya Chief Executive Officer Kihara Maina and EIB executive responsible for business financing outside Europe Robert Schofield is targeted at supporting small and medium size enterprises (SMEs), corporate, and institutional customers.
According to the bank, the loans will be advanced to eligible borrowers up to a maximum of 50 per cent of the total cost of each of the projects they’re undertaking.
However, the borrowers have to meet the EIB eligibility criteria.
“This facility from the European Investment Bank, which affirms our position as a development partner of choice for the SME and Corporate sector aimed at facilitating the country’s economic growth,” said Mr Maina.
The new agreement comes only a few days after the bank’s Rwandan subsidiary received $10 million in financing from the IFC to expand lending to SMEs and to the agri-business sector in the country.
The IFC, which is the private-sector lending arm of the World Bank said it could funding with training on agri-business finance and agency banking.
“The project will improve access to finance for SMEs and the agri-business sector, both priority areas for spurring economic growth and job creation in Rwanda and also help in lengthening the maturity profile of the Bank’s funding” the IFC said in its disclosures.