Micro-lender Key seeks additional Ksh.500M capital injection

Key Micro-finance Bank, formerly Remu, is seeking for Ksh. 500 million as additional capital injection from its shareholders, this to fund its planned expansion strategy to grow its footprint in the country.

The lender, who took up the new name on Monday, is looking to sink the acquired funds into a five-year long strategy to include an increase of its banking outlets and customer base to 14 and 15,000 respectively.

Key Micro-finance is further seeking to grow its loan book from the current Ksh. 300 million to Ksh. 1.2 billion.

Growth for the lender will similarly be focused around the adoption of new technology and innovation with digitization representing the biggest opportunity for micro-lending units.

“Once you embrace technology it does not limit you to where you can get to. We will however open a few more branches as physical presence is important. Service improvement and new products are also central to creating a complete basket from which customers can chose what to consume,” Key Micro-finance Chief Executive Officer Gregory Siro said.

Opportunities remain for the lender to tap into the servicing of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), as the economic segment remains largely undeserved by the few micro-lenders in the place.

According to Key Micro-finance Chairman Luke Kinoti, the prevailing macro environment is also representative of the growth prospects.

“The economy is expanding with opportunities to invest. As we find the employment market shrinking, the opportunities will arise from self employment especially among the youth,” he said.

Key Micro-finance is Kenya’s first licensed deposit taking micro-lender having acquired licensing from the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) in 2011.

Despite its early start to operations, the lender lags behind the big three Micro-Finance Banks (MFBs) — Eco Network Africa’s Kenya Women Micro-finance Bank, Faulu and Rafiki — with a dwarf market share of 0.8 percent.

Shareholders remain the most likely source of additional capital for the bank and add to the potential represented by its principal partner — Fusion Capital. The private equity and fund management firm took a 25 percent stake in Key Micro-finance Bank in 2014.