Kenya is among leading African countries in efforts to realize gender equality, a Millennium Development Goal (MDG). In 2009 a big step was taken, towards this, when the Women Enterprise Fund (WEF) was launched.
The public fund avails credit to women entrepreneurs in Kenya. It also offers support services such as infrastructure support, capacity building and marketing to women.
WEF is open to individuals, companies owned by women and women groups. It has the goal of enhancing role played by Kenyan women in socio-economic development.
How do I get a Women Enterprise Fund loan?
So far, the Women Enterprise Fund has disbursed funds to over a million individuals. Where have you been? You need to get the application form, which is free, from Gender Ministry offices, NSSF or simply download one. Fine, I will share the download link.
You can apply for between sh.1000 and sh.500,000. For monies above half a million, approval for disbursement is required from an advisory board.
WEF loans are to be repaid in 36 months. You can repay via M-PESA (business number, 830800). The fact that the Women Enterprise Fund has a repayment rate of 92% shows that this is not bad at all.
Are Kenyan women shunning WEF?
Unfortunately, the number of borrowers is still short of expectations. Two prominent public officials have complained about low uptake of this fund, in the past.
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Mumina Bonaya, Chair of the Advisory Board of Women Enterprise Fund, pleaded with women from the North Eastern and Coast regions to apply for loans. “I want to challenge my fellow women…to look at the wider picture of what the fund is meant to do for them.”
In the former Nyanza province, a Treasury Official, Peter Odhengo was urging women “not to be afraid of loans.” This leads to questions as to why WEF has a low uptake despite lack of funding being termed the biggest impediment for women entrepreneurs in Kenya.
Counties with high WEF uptake
In 2016, only 4 counties had disbursed more than sh.100 million. These were Nairobi, Nakuru, Nyeri and Kiambu counties. A surface analysis of this reveals that these are the most urbanized counties and would logically enjoy benefits that come with.
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Some of these benefits would include highly educated women, broader networking groups and better infrastructure in place. These, and more, lead to high Women Enterprise Fund uptake.
Counties with low WEF uptake
Obviously, to equalize access to WEF in all the counties would mean addressing the aforementioned systemic gaps. But that takes a long time to effect then realize result.
Meanwhile, it would be best for stakeholders to deal with the easy targets behind low uptake of the Women Enterprise Fund. One such target that was dealt with was the size of loans. Previously, the low capping of group loans at sh.200,000 was unpopular among women. Consequently, it was raised to sh.500,000.
READ: PUBLIC FUND FOR KENYAN ENTREPRENEURS
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Another that has not been dealt with is lack of awareness. I’m not to sure but if the 36 bloggers are an actual thing they would do well to exert an effort here.
Lack of awareness has lead to either complete ignorance about WEF or spread of misinformation about the fund. One instance, in Northern Kenya, was the perception that processing fees were interest payment. This forced women to shun it to avoid friction with islam compliance. Another is the idea that WEF is a grant. It is not.
It is therefore expected that more will be done towards this end. Nobody wants to be complaining about the same stuff they did 10 years before. Get paid by WEF!