Faulu Microfinance Bank has received a Ksh. 1.45 billion capital injection from its parent company, Old Mutual Africa, to support its growth strategy aimed at growing its banking business and customer base. The boost comes as the bank scales up financial support and solutions to microenterprises and business groups comprising of over 150,000 customers.
Faulu is banking on SMEs and business groups which account for the bigger chunk of its customer base, to grow revenue and expand in the counties as the economy gradually recovers from the COVID-19 economic disruption.
The UAP Old Mutual Group CEO East Africa, Arthur Oginga noted that the additional capital will be deployed in strengthening the Bank’s balance sheet as it expands its footprint across the country.
“Our growth strategy is focused on addressing the unique financial needs of small businesses forming the bulk of our customer base. This requires resources hence the support we have received from Old Mutual Africa Holdings Limited will be able to sustainably accelerate Faulu’s business objectives,” added Mr. Arthur Oginga.
In February, Faulu stepped up support to MSMEs and business groups to help them recover from the impact of the pandemic. This includes trade finance solutions to larger SMEs in construction, trade, agribusiness and import business.
“With many of our customers struggling to rebuild their businesses in a challenging environment, our primary focus as a Bank is on unlocking opportunities through trade finance under flexible terms. This will be achieved through the banks strategic partners including the county governments, companies in the automotive industry, agribusiness as well as the local community,” said Faulu CEO Mr. Apollo Njoroge.
The lender also revealed that it is also merging some branches following a strategic review of its operations to improve efficiency. The Bank recently merged its Mwea and Maua branches with the Embu and Meru branches respectively, a move it said was geared to improve efficiency and deliver a better service experience to its customers. Faulu also consolidated its Njoro marketing office with the Nakuru branch, and the Taveta marketing office is now part of the Voi branch.