Kenya Commercial Bank has signed a financing facility with retailer Tuskys Supermarkets that will see suppliers get payment before their invoices fall due.
KCB is the second bank to enter into such a partnership with the retail chain, which also signed a similar deal with Diamond Trust Bank (DTB) in early December.
The financing partnership will also enable small and medium sized companies (SMEs) that supply the retailer get loans from both banks at preferential rates.
“We are hopeful that in the long run the ripple effect will be that more employment opportunities will be created,” Tuskys chief executive Dan Githua says.
The new financing arrangement, dubbed Biashara Club, was launched a month ago and since then Tuskys says they have brought on board 100 SMEs, with a target of 600 by the end of the year.
Tuskys, the second largest retailer in the country by revenue, has more than 1,600 SME suppliers who deliver goods worth between Sh500,000 to Sh5 million every month.
“The focus on SMEs is deliberate because these are the businesses that grow the country’s economy.”
