African Guarantee Fund roots for lending towards the SMEs in the green sector

An increasing number of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) have ventured into businesses that tackle climate change effects, African Guarantee Fund (AGF) says.

Speaking during a tree planting exercise organised by AGF and its partners, AGF Chief Executive Officer Felix Bikpo urged SME lenders to increase their lending towards the SMEs in the green sector.

AGF has been keen to foster Climate Finance through one of its products – the Green Guarantee Facility. The Green Guarantee is a unique product that assists financial institutions to partially cover the risks associated with financing SMEs with green investments and thus enable them increase their portfolio in that asset class.

The organisation has over the past six years, made available Ksh 143 billion (US$ 1.4 billion) of financing for SMEs. Currently, the guarantee fund has more than ten partner financial institutions in Kenya.

Themed Environmental Sustainability for Tomorrow’s Economy, the participants planted over 10,000 trees in Kereita Forest in Lari subcounty, making a significant impact towards increasing the country’s forest cover. AGF intends to hold a tree planting day annually across the country.