World Bank pledges to expand credit to African SMEs

The World Bank on Thursday pledged to support Africa to expand credit to small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

Luz Salamina, the Lead Financial Sector Specialists of World Bank said this at the 5th Africa Credit Information Sharing Conference 2020 that aimed at taking stock of the progress achieved in Africa ‘s credit markets.

The financial sector specialists also told a regional credit forum in Nairobi that SMEs’ access to finance remains a key challenge in spite of its role as a driver of economic growth.

“We will provide technical assistance to enable the African continent to reform its laws to provide a framework to manage credit responsibility as well as mitigate risk for depositors money,” Salamina said.

The two-day conference attracted participants from 15 African countries from central banks, financial sector development, non-governmental organizations, commercial banks, and credit bureaus.

Salamina urged African nations to ensure SMEs have access to affordable credit because they provide the bulk of employment opportunities.

Geoffrey Mwau, Senior Economic Advisor to the Cabinet Secretary of the National Treasury, said that the rate of a country’s economic growth was driven by investments.

These are largely dependent on the ease with which productive enterprises access to credit to transform their viable ideas and opportunities into productive ventures. (Xinhua/NAN)