After a year of operating in Rwanda, Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) will finance Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) through a customised product a top official has said.

Maurice K. Toroitich the bank’s Managing Director said on Thursday that a redefined SME banking product depending on the market structure would make the service more valuable and relevant to local SMEs.

 "As you may know, the definition of SMEs in Rwanda is different from that in Kenya.

So we need to first understand the structure of SMEs in Rwanda and then customise our SME Banking Product in a way which best suits them,” Toroitich explained.

"We will also design a risk management system relevant to this particular market,” he added.

At a meeting with young entrepreneurs at Hotel Mille Colline, Toroitich revealed that KCB-Rwanda offers the product but it’s not fully utilised compared to other countries like Kenya and Uganda.

SME banking product is one of the several banking services offered by the KCB Group across the region. It focuses on meeting the unique and diversified needs of SME by easing access to loans and working with the relationship managers to improve their business.

The meeting, which attracted SMEs from different sectors, was organised by the Rwanda Entrepreneurship Development Programme (REDP) and KCB-Rwanda. REDP is a project of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank group.

Berry O. Odhiambo, an Associate Operation Officer with REDP said that it is crucial KCB-Rwanda develops SME products suitable for Rwanda.

"This is a market undergoing rebirth, which requires specific attention,” he explained.

Odhiambo said that this sector faces a lot of challenges which crosscut from skills to finance but varying from one sector to another.

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