StanChart offers Sh6m sponsorship to Top1000 SMEs
Standard Chartered Bank is offering Small and Medium sized firms a range of financing products to help grow their business. The financing options will be available to the winners of this year’s edition of the Top1000 SMEs survey that recognises Kenya’s fastest growing medium-sized companies.
The bank made the promise as it signed a KES6mn sponsorship deal with the Nation Media Group for this year’s Top1000 SMEs conference and gala dinner that will take next month. The range of products on offer includes trade financing, working capital and expansion capital for purchases of assets as well as business protection that comes in the form of forward contracts and foreign currency accounts.
Humphrey Muturi, the general manager for SME Banking at StanChart said the bank will be seeking to understand the needs of small businesses and develop tailor made products for them. “SMEs contribute to about 70 per cent of the total GDP, meaning that this is where our attention should turn to,” said Mr Muturi, the general manager for SME Banking at StanChart.
The Nation Newspaper Division managing director Tom Mshindi said StanChart’s donation will be used to finance research and audit of competing firms. He noted increased interest by companies to sponsor the initiative and promised the competing firms a wider reach and quality programme. Mr Mshindi said the search for the best companies had matured and has this year attracted more entries than last year’s 500. Higher participation has this year been recorded from agri-processing firms, he said.
Mshindi said plans are under way to kick-off the search for Top 1000 companies in Rwanda by next year. “We plan to expand this into a regional activity,” he said. KPMG, which assesses the entries, said business confidence among the SMEs is higher this year compared to that in the big corporate players meaning that they could deliver good performance despite the harsh business environment. (Read: Search for top enterprises now goes to Rwanda) Commercial Bank have been turning to the SMEs to grow their loan books even as they seek to cultivate long-term relationships with them.
The Top 1000 SMEs Club is an initiative of the Nation Media Group in partnership with consultancy firm, KPMG. It recognises the fastest growing medium sized with an annual turnover of between KES70mn and KES1bn. Companies whose turnover grow above KES1bn will also graduate into club 101 which will be a league of best performing firms in the region. Since its inception in 2008, Club 101 boasts member companies including Mellech Engineering, Ramco Printing, Interconsumer Products, Magnate Ventures Dimension Data (EA) and Jetlink Express. Participating companies also stand to gain from networking opportunities, enhanced brand visibility and exposure to potential financiers such as banks and private equity firms.
This article was originally posted on Sustainable Development Africa Platform
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