Kenyan Banks Invested Close to Sh.7 billion into CSR Activities over the Last 3 years

According to the Kenya Banking Industry Shared Value Report released by the Kenya Bankers Association (KBA), Kenya’s banking industry has invested Sh.2.1 billion in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in 2018 and approximately Sh.6.7 billion over the last three years.

The KBA Governing council Representative and KCB Bank Kenya Managing Director Samuel Makome restated the role that the banking industry has played in creating shard value for the society. This he said at the release of the industry’s social responsibility report.

“Banks are heavily investing in engagements and activities that have a positive impact on the society, environment and economy. In addition to the CSR investments, banks have spent more than Sh3 billion in cause-related sponsorships in areas such as sports. As you know, our athletes are the pride of Kenya and our global ambassadors of whom we are all very proud,” he said.

In the report, Dr. Habil Olaka, the CEO Kenya Bankers that the role of the banking industry has also come about with it’s fair share of challenges such as global and regional geopolitics, technological disruption, social and environmental concerns. More to that, he stated that the biggest headwind met by banks has been the Banking (Amendment) Act, 2016 which introduced interest rate controls and stymied private sector access to credit.

“The interest rate ceiling set by Parliament has negatively impacted private sector access to credit, which has led to an estimated 1.4 percent decline in GDP,” said Dr Olaka.

Nonetheless, the industry has triumphant over innovative programs and have adopted new methods of lending money.

“Banks have devised creative approaches to knock down some of the barriers that have led to difficulty in credit access for Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs). Despite the interest rate caps, banks have been able to respond to credit needs through innovative approaches such as leveraging on the Movable Property Registry on ecitizen.go.ke. So far, over 183 thousand loans have been registered worth Sh3.65 Trillion which is very promising,” he said.