Equity Group and the family of Dr. James Mwangi have donated Kes 120 million (USD 1 million) to address the plight of Kenyans affected by the current drought in the country. The amount is composed of Kes 60 million from Equity Group and another Kes 60 million from the family of Dr. James Mwangi.
Speaking at a consultative meeting presided over by His Excellency President H.E William Ruto to discuss the current drought situation in the country, Dr. James Mwangi, Equity Group Managing Director and CEO said, “The drought issue is a recurrent problem and we commit to supporting the Government in its effort to find a lasting solution. On behalf of my family and Equity Bank on a matching basis through Equity Group Foundation (EGF), we will give Kes 120 million (USD 1 million dollars).
Further, Equity Group will support the Government and the affected communities to adopt new farming techniques including irrigation and climate-smart agriculture and through its social impact arm, Equity Group Foundation. The Group will roll out financial literacy programs to help the affected communities most of whom are pastoralists to view livestock farming from an agro-economy perspective where livestock can be harvested before drought and re-stocked when the environment improves.
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Additionally, to find a sustainable solution to cushion the communities from the ravages of drought, Equity will work with the Government and other stakeholders in setting up infrastructure for abattoirs to facilitate the harvesting and processing of mature livestock.
“We hope that part of the support towards addressing the drought situation beyond purchasing of food, will also look into providing permanent water and pasture solutions and to support farmers to re-stock,’’ added Dr. Mwangi.
Equity Group has been partnering with the Government and various development partners to rollout various social impact initiatives that have been implemented over the years through the Bank’s infrastructure including the facilitation of social safety net cash transfer payments to the less fortunate in society under programs such as the Hunger Safety Net Programme (HSNP) and the Inua Jamii Programme which supports Orphans and Vulnerable Children, Persons with Severe Disability and Older Persons.
Other interventions include the Kenya Cereal Enhancement Program (KCEP) and refugee-focused social protection programs.
The partnership objectives include transitioning the beneficiaries to become self-reliant and resilient through capacity building.
Equity has been extending financial education and deepening financial inclusion while at the same time efficiently disbursing funds to beneficiaries in line with the Government and development partners’ expectations. To date, over 4.4 million households have benefitted from the social payments programs with Kes 121 billion disbursed so far.
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The Kes 120 million donations by Equity Bank and the family of Dr. Mwangi come 3 years after Equity Group contributed Kes 1.3 billion (USD 13 Million) towards the fight to reduce the spread of Covid-19. The investment was made up of contributions by Mastercard Foundation which contributed Kes 700 million, Equity Bank Kes 300 million, and the family of Dr. James Mwangi Kes 300 million.
The funds have been and continue to be utilized towards the provision of PPEs for frontline healthcare workers in 116 government and faith-based hospitals including the facilitation of psychosocial and case management training for over 50,000 healthcare workers.
In addition, over 14,600 Wings to Fly & Elimu scholars were supported to continue with their learning through broadcast classes when schools were closed. Each student was equipped with a solar-powered radio, and a charger to enable them to tune into the radio broadcasted classes developed by the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development on top of a monthly stipend to contribute to household needs for food and other essentials.
Furthermore, a total of 95 manufacturers were trained to repurpose their factories to manufacture European & US standard PPEs which led to Kenya becoming a key exporter of PPEs in the region.
In 2011, Equity contributed Kes 20 million, during the Kenyans for Kenya campaign an initiative by corporate leaders and the Red Cross in response to mitigate famine and deaths from starvation.
In 2013, Dr. James Mwangi and their family donated Kshs 100 million to Meru University of Science and Technology for the construction of an incubation and entrepreneur center.