Kenya: StanChart promises more cash for manufacturing sector

Kenya; Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) Kenya Limited intends to increase its lending to the manufacturing sector, especially small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). This comes as other players in the industry target households and agricultural sector and retail customers. “We are already developing products such as supply chain and accounts receivable financing to ride on the back of this strategy. Our SME backing proposition is also being rebranded to commercial banking,” said Lamin Manjang, SCB Kenya Chief Executive has said. He made the remarks during the release of a report on an independent study on the social and economic impact of UK-based Standard Chartered Bank Plc in Africa, looking at the value added to the economy and how it supports trade and employment. Also present was Dr René Kim, one of the authors of the report titled “Banking on Africa Standard Chartered’s Social and Economic impact.” Available statistics indicate that SCB Kenya contributes Sh174billion ($2 billion) of value to the economy, equivalent to 5.5 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).