Nairobi — For the past 10 years, credit-only microfinance institution, Jijenge Credit limited has been at the forefront of cultivating a vibrant financial ecosystem across the country.
Through the strength of sheer hard work and resilience, this financial cornerstone has become a driving force for change, catalyzing innovation and technology advancements by bridging the gap between the SMEs and accessibility to flexible financing.
The goal, according to its Chief executive officer and founder Peter Macharia, is to accelerate efforts to meet financial inclusion targets, increase the lender's capacity to fight today's financial hardships among Kenyans, and boost support to middle-income earners - majority of whom are today hurt by erratic tax regime.
"Presently we have a loan portfolio of more than between Sh500 Million and Sh1 Billion, but we feel we can offer more based on our assessment of the market in which we operate," offers Macharia, a banker by profession during an interview at the firm's head office at Town House building.
"Kenyan microentrepreneurs and individual borrowers are citing a lack of access to working capital as a barrier to maintaining or restarting operations owing to the dire economic situation in the country. Fortunately, micro lenders like ourselves offer a viable solution to these emerging financial needs," he says.
Adding that, "We are seeing a growing demand for loans now than we have witnessed before, this tells you something. But it has given us the determination to enlarge our terrain with more product offerings like what we recently launched, the motor repair loan."
Besides the motor repair loan product, Jijenge Credit remains one of the leading and most affordable institutions to borrow Logbook loans from in the country today, as it seeks to give individuals and businesses access to quick financing to enable them to meet their emergency needs for immediate cash.
"We are quite versatile in our offerings which range from logbook loans, title deed loans, check-off loans among others at competitive costs. Our interest rates are actually lower than what is available in the market today. We want to solve the financial needs of our partisans," says Macharia.
A check-off loan is a type of loan that is repaid through salary deductions. This means that when you take out a check-off loan, your employer deducts the loan repayments directly from your salary each month.
"Life is unpredictable, and sometimes unexpected things happen, like losing a job, having medical problems, or when the economy is not doing well like now. So over time we have seen this class of borrowers increasing in numbers."
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But these situations can potentially make it hard for borrowers to repay their loans as planned. It might cause financial problems and lead to missing loan payments.
A majority of Kenyans are in severe financial distress or are struggling to make ends meet. But several reasons have been put forward to suggest the current state of affairs including the recent disclosure by the Treasury Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndung'u who told the Finance and National Planning Committee that the maturing short-term debts, the depreciating shilling and the high-interest rates had pushed the country to a difficult financial position.
Indeed, industry figures show that outstanding banking sector loans to households in Kenya dropped by Ksh13.7 billion in December last year, a rare downturn highlighting the impact of the high interest rates resulting from the series of policy rate hikes by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK).
The loans extended to private households by commercial banks, saccos, and microfinance banks, have been rising consistently for the past 14 months, but took a rare decline in December, falling 1.14 percent, data from CBK shows.
And with the budget now read amid the combative clauses in the Finance Bill 2024, Kenyans are set on a long road trip of financial deprivation.
