BSP assists more than 2600 SMEs

BSP Financial Group Limited (BSP) continues to drive the SME sector in the country by assisting local businesses expand, generate revenue and create more employment through the various SME Loan Products it offers.

BSP Group GM for Retail, Daniel Faunt said the SME Credit Enhancement Scheme loan (CESL) continues to get a lot of traction in Retail Lending since its roll out on 4th October, 2020. “To date (February 2023), we have funded over K332m in SME Credit Enhancement Scheme Loans assisting 2,640 SMEs. Equity requirement was reduced from 30% to 10% with an increase of funding from K3m to K5m in May of 2021. That allowed for greater participation from the SME sector in this scheme,” Mr Faunt added.

In 2022, BSP funded K310m in loans under the SME Credit Enhancement Scheme that assisted 1,699 SMEs.  Overall, BSP has assisted 2,967 SMEs in the past 10 years with the various SME Lending products it offers.

BSP Head of SME, Samuel Mulina said the SME Retail Lending team continues to deliver in the SME space and continued to fund loans using its own funds under the SME CESL facility despite exceeding the annual K100m support funding provided by the National Government.  “Apart from the government funded Credit Enhancement Loan Scheme, BSP has been offering its own SME Lending Products since 2013; Smart Business Loan, Micro Business Loan (Agriculture), Term Business Loan (Working Capital), and Overdrafts, ”Mulina said.

More than 141 businesses have been assisted with K14m from BSP’s Smart Business Loan while 64 customers have been assisted with a total funding over K657, 000 through BSP’s Micro Business Loan Products.

“BSP not only gives out loans. One of our obligations as the leading financial institution is to provide financial literacy trainings in our chosen markets and the SME segment is no exception. We had 32 BSP SME customers attend our coaching sessions last November.

“Developing good business habits, book keeping and regular cash flow deposits into business accounts helps SMEs develop good customer profiles. This is something we encourage from all SME customers. We look forward to continue working with SMEs this year,” Mulina concluded.