Equity Group Holdings Limited (EGHL), the Kenya-based financial services provider led by James banker Mwangi, has mobilized about $4.46 billion to support businesses domiciled in two of its most effective markets, East and Central Africa.
This comes after the group developed a plan to resuscitate businesses in these regions that were severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, in partnership with 37 UN agencies and development financial institutions.
The plan, popularly referred to as “The Marshall Plan,” is a private-sector-driven economic stimulus program aimed at alleviating the hard-biting impact of the pandemic on businesses domiciled in regions where the financial giant operates, including Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan and Rwanda.
As a way of ensuring the plan’s effective implementation, the financial giant has announced that it has secured about $4.6 billion, which will be lent to 5 million businesses operating in vital sectors of the economy, with each receiving about $893 million.
The lending is expected to unlock a plethora of business opportunities in these regions and cement the bilateral relationship between Kenya and DRC.
Billionaires.Africa understands that Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and DRC President Felix Tshisekedi signed a bilateral agreement earlier this year that led to the birth of a Kenya-DRC trade mission in Kinshasa, which was inaugurated on Dec. 3.
In addition, the move by EGHL, which aligns with the provision of the Marshall Plan, is expected to create up to 25 million direct and indirect jobs in the regions.
EGHL is a financial services holding company headquartered in Nairobi. It is listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange and holds more than $8.92 billion in assets.
Led by Group CEO James Mwangi, the company has subsidiaries in Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Uganda, DRC and South Sudan.
Buoyed by its recent acquisition of a 7.7-percent stake in Equity Bank Congo, the financial giant earlier disclosed its plans to acquire local rivals, representing a paradigm shift in the organization’s strategy to seek organic growth.
SOURCE; BILLIONAIRES.AFRICA