The Women Enterprise Fund (WEF) announced that it will resume loan disbursement around mid-next month.
President William Ruto launched the WEF digital loan platform in March 2023, providing women groups with access to Kes.50,000 loans repayable within a month at a six percent interest rate.
The fund halted lending in September last year to review the lending process and gather feedback from beneficiaries to enhance its systems.
Raphael Kimolo, the acting Chief Executive of WEF, stated that the first three months constituted a piloting phase to learn lessons, including assessing the effectiveness of controls and processes.
“We realised the controls were not working and now we have been able to do discussions, come up with policies on how we are going to lend going forward, with a plan to increase the loan amount from Sh50,000 and the repayment period,” he said during the launch of the WEF’s 2023-2027 strategic plan in Nairobi on Friday.
The strategic plan, as outlined by WEF Board Chairperson Jane Lang’at, aims to increase the fund’s value from the current Kes.4.5 billion to Kes.10 billion in the next five years.
Dr. Lang’at emphasized that the plan serves as a roadmap for the future and demonstrates their collective commitment to excellence, innovation, and the sustainable growth of the fund.
“The strategic plan is in response to the Kenya Kwanza government’s Bottom Up Economic Transformation Agenda. Among other objectives apart from the fund growth is financial inclusion, capacity building, market accessibility and institutional strengthening as key result areas.”
