The Mrembo Imara Project was a project supported by The UK Kenya Tech Hub which is a project under the Digital
Access Programme (DAP). DAP is an initiative led by the UK Department for the Foreign Commonwealth and
Development Office (FCDO). The pilot project was initiated with the primary objective of enhancing credit
accessibility for women-owned businesses within the SME sector. The term "Mrembo" in Swahili translates to
"attractive," symbolizing the aspiration for women entrepreneurs to be more appealing to financial institutions.
The project encompassed three core components:
1. Understanding the Financing Landscape: The project involved engaging various financial institutions to find out
the range of financial products available for women and to uncover the challenges they encountered while
endeavoring to extend credit to women-owned enterprises.
2. Empowering Women Business Owners: Simultaneously, the project sought insights from women business
owners regarding the hurdles they confronted in their pursuit of funding. The findings served as the foundation for
crafting a specialized Trainer of Trainers (ToTs) curriculum tailored to bridge the identified gaps.
3. Linkage events: Under the Mrembo Imara project, the Edge Three Sixty team organized linkage events, fostering
direct interaction between lenders and SME women entrepreneurs. The team was able to invite both formal
banks, micro lenders as well as digital lenders to the events allowing the women immediate access to potential
funders.
Through this initiative:
Over the course of the pilot project, more than 1,300 women entrepreneurs underwent comprehensive training on
various critical topics. These included debt access and management, financial literacy and effective record-keeping
practices. Some of the training done by ToT’s was conducted at the business premises of the women as some
could not leave their businesses to attend the training.
By the end of the 4-month project duration, several women had already received financing, while a significant
number had submitted loan applications that were undergoing review. Furthermore, the project successfully
engaged with over 40 financial institutions, with approximately 10 of them committing to providing specialized
financial products for women-led businesses.
The Mrembo Imara Project exemplifies a concerted effort to bridge the gender gap in access to financing for SMEs,
empowering women entrepreneurs and promoting financial inclusivity.