Absa Bank Kenya PLC, has officially launched the Absa Kenya Foundation (AKF) as a social arm that will accelerate its positive impact and sustainability commitments in various communities within the country.
The Foundation, which will be sponsored by the Bank and its strategic partners, will focus on four key programmatic pillars: entrepreneurship, education and skills, natural resource management, and health and humanitarian relief.
The Bank will contribute 1.5 percent of its annual earnings to the new Foundation, starting off with Sh500 million as seed funding towards transformative projects that will be implemented through strategic partnerships, to address major societal and environmental issues.
While officiating over the launch event at Karura Forest, the Prime Cabinet Secretary, Musalia Mudavadi, underscored the urgency for heightened collaboration between the government and the private sector in addressing some critical societal challenges.
“The Foundation’s launch is timely, given the considerable pressure on Government resources, resulting from limited tax and external resources available to support competing challenges such as poverty alleviation and growth challenges as well as supporting priority programme in education, health, infrastructure, and climate-change, induced vulnerabilities,” stated Mudavadi.
The Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Forestry, Aden Duale, reiterated that stronger collaboration will be required with the private sector to accelerate environmental and climate action.
“It is only through such strategic collaboration that we can attain the ambitious goal of growing 15 billion trees in the next few years,” added Duale.
He noted that banks and financial institutions, such as Absa Kenya, have a unique role to play in promoting the sectors, where they can facilitate access to capital, provide financial products tailored to forest-based enterprises, and support green businesses.
Absa Bank Kenya PLC Managing Director (MD), Abdi Mohamed, emphasized the bank’s pivotal role in the economy, particularly as a systemic institution driving sustainable shared value across the society.
“The establishment of this Foundation is yet another step forward in our journey to lead and innovate within the financial sector, acting as a catalyst for positive, lasting change. This presents us with an important opportunity to build upon our past experiences to strengthen our ability to create lasting shared value and scalable impact for our communities in a sustainable manner,” expressed Mohamed.
The Foundation’s Entrepreneurship pillar, according to the MD, aims to empower 50,000 MSMEs over the next five years, with an emphasis on inclusivity: 60 percent women, 30 percent men, 10 percent youth, and 5 percent dedicated to Persons Living with Disabilities (PLWDs) with an additional 10 percent of efforts directed on generating growth in the agriculture sector.
Further, he highlighted that the Education and Skills pillar, on the other hand, aims to reach 1 million youth through the Ready-to-Work initiative, support 50,000 youth through the Absa Fellowship Program, and award 500 Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) scholarships, with a focus on providing students with future-ready skills.
Mohamed mentioned that the Foundation plans to expand climate financing contributions under the Natural Resource Management pillar to address climate change concerns through programs such as climate-smart agriculture, renewable energy, tree planting, and tree growing.
“The Foundation will advocate for low-carbon, climate-resilient development in collaboration with youth, SMEs, and other stakeholders, with the commitment to plant 10 million trees acting as a cornerstone,” he disclosed.
Under the Health and Humanitarian Relief pillar, Mohamed asserted that the Foundation will work with development partners and healthcare professionals to address major health issues and promote preventative care. This pillar will also prioritize responding to humanitarian crises such as floods and famine.
The MD affirmed that the Foundation’s success will be underscored by different critical partnerships that will support the co-creation, co-funding and co-implementing impactful programme in the community.
“We recognize that this is a journey we cannot undertake alone. We require robust partnerships, collaborations, and cooperation with like-minded stakeholders, which will form a solid foundation for the success of this endeavour,” he emphasized.
By Michael Omondi
