The government through Uwezo Fund has since inception of the kitty to date disbursed a total of Sh6.7 billion to constituencies across the country for onward lending to groups.
Uwezo Fund Chairperson, Anne Njuguna said a total of Sh5.6 billion has been loaned to groups with Sh1.5 billion having been revolved in 189 Constituencies which have benefited a total of 1,117,681 individuals comprising of 336,058 males and 781,623 females.
“This has amounted to Sh7.2 billion as the cumulative disbursement to 79,145 groups of youth, women and persons with disabilities,” said Ms. Njuguna.
The groups comprise of 26,399 youth groups, 50, 733 women groups and 2,013 persons with disabilities.
Ms Njuguna who was speaking during a workshop organized by Uwezo Fund to validate the Uwezo Fund Strategic Plan 2023-2027 held at the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development on Thursday said in the period under review, the overall repayment rate increased from Sh1.7 billion (34.3 percent) to Sh2.8 billion (41percent).
She said the success was achieved through development and implementation of constituency-customized loan recovery strategies towards enhanced loan recovery for constituencies whose loan payment was below 50 percent.
Uwezo Fund strategy has developed and implemented loaning guidelines that catalyzed the payment.
The Uwezo Fund Strategic Plan 2023-2027 will focus on financial inclusion and resource mobilization, business development service and publicity, reengineering of the fund and strengthening legal, policy, institutional capacity and infrastructure.
Uwezo Fund Chief Executive Officer Mr. Peter Lengapiani said the Fund supports the Trade industry by providing capital to the youth, women and entrepreneurs in the country.
“This fund’s target groups are micro small and medium enterprises and grassroots organizations that have for years been used by the public to save and invest,” he said
During the session the Uwezo Fund Committee had an open discussion with stakeholders among them youth officers, qualified financial advisors, bankers and various state departments officials where they addressed the loopholes and constraints which hindered the workability of the fund.
They also deliberated on the best ways to reach financial inclusion through educating the general public on investment strategies and proper wealth management.
Uwezo Fund Community Group Chairpersons who work closely with the general public expressed their views on the best way to make the fund impactful.
They also highlighted the delay in receiving the funding and the five-year term of the Constituency’s Committees which they noted did not give the office bearers enough time for thorough planning and interaction with the communities they served.
The Uwezo fund derives its mandate from Public Finance Management Act (2012) which was operationalized through Public Finance Management (Uwezo Fund), Regulations, 2014 to enable it achieve its objectives.
The Fund’s mandate is to enhance entrepreneurship of the underserved and unserved through financial inclusion and innovative business support services which aims to promote an entrepreneurial culture and financial independence through structured credit financing and innovative business support services.
In its strategic plan, the Fund aims to achieve enhanced scope and increased uptake towards economic empowerment of women, youth and people with disabilities, promotion of sustainable development and enhancement of capacity of MSMEs, expand access to affordable loans and reduce turnaround time and enhancing efficiency, effectiveness and transparency, good corporate governance and visibility of the fund.
By Akwidaya Sabari
