CDB provides 4.3 billion Ksh loan to Equity Bank Kenya Limited for on-lending to SMEs

On May 16, 2010, China Development Bank (CDB) signed a KES 4,308,000,000 loan agreement with Equity Bank Kenya Limited — a financial services provider headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya — to support the development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The loan carried an interest rate of 6-month LIBOR (0.659% in May 2010) plus a 2.2%. Multiple maturity dates were given in Equity Bank Kenya annual reports; however, the loan ultimately matured on September 20, 2016. The loan was backed by the Equity Bank Kenya Limited directors’ guarantee. In 2010, Equity Bank Kenya had drawn down Ksh 121 million. In 2011, Ksh 2.91 billion was drawn down. Annual reports from the Equity Bank of Kenya indicate that this credit line was fully drawn down by 2012 and was fully repaid by 2016. The proceeds of the loan from CDB will be used by Kenya Equity Bank to on-lend to SMEs -- especially agro-processing SME exporters -- at interest rates of between 7% and 9% and maturities of 3-7 years. The CDB loan has supported the Mataara Tea Factory Expansion Project, the Kapkoros Tea Factory Project, the Jetlink Logistics Project, and others.

Additional details

1. This project was part of an Africa-wide $1.454 billion loan effort by the China Development Bank to support the development of SMEs. 2. In 2012, CDB provided a separate medium term loan of Ksh 4.93 billion to Equity Bank Kenya with interest of LIBOR 6M +2.6% margin and maturity on September 20, 2017 (see Project ID#69475).

Number of official sources

13

Number of total sources

21