Kenya Commercial Bank-Rwanda (KCB) a subsidiary of Kenya’s KCB group has committed a total of Rwf14.1 million for the growth of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

According to Gloria Nyambok, the Head of Business at KCB, the sponsorship will be put to use in partnership with the International Financing Corporation (IFC) a member of the World Bank group that is developing the SME toolkit in Rwanda.

"KCB is a socially responsible organization that has been involved in activities of giving back to the community and we shall continue doing this,” Nyambok explained.

The funds will go into training small businesses in management skills, marketing as well as developing their own business plans.

"The bank also intends to equip businesses with skills of developing their own business plans because with strong business plans, small business can easily access loans from the lenders,” she added.

So far, the Kenyan bank has been involved in the tourism industry sponsoring the training of people in hospitality, restaurants and travel agencies.

Nyambok stressed that this program will also continue into the new year after carrying out an impact assessment to evaluate how the project has benefited the business people.

In the effort to develop the SMEs, KCB is working with IFC and centre for business solution (CBS) where IFC has introduced the toolkit.

The SME toolkit is a training package that facilitates is a training package that facilitates SMEs with knowledge in accounting and finance, business planning, human resource, marketing and sales among others. 800 entrepreneurs have so far benefited from this program.

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