NCBA Group on Thursday brought together more than 100 small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) traders in Nairobi for a financial literacy and advisory forum aimed at strengthening business resilience and expanding access to tailored financial solutions.
The forum drew traders from major commercial hubs including Gikomba, Nyamakima, Kamukunji, Kirinyaga Road and Sheikh Karume markets—sectors that are highly cash-driven and central to the capital’s economy. Participants engaged NCBA specialists on business financing, asset finance, leasing, insurance, cash management, trade finance and transactional banking.
Speaking at the event, Robert Kiboti, NCBA Group Director for CSME Banking, said SMEs continue to face constraints in access to capital, financial planning and risk management.
“Driven by our purpose to bank on belief and empower ambition, we are going beyond financing to provide advisory, knowledge and ecosystem-based solutions that help traders make informed decisions and scale sustainably,” Kiboti said.
The engagement supports NCBA’s 2025 strategy to become the primary financial partner for retail and SME customers through personalised, sector-specific outreach. The bank said convening traders within their business clusters enables practical learning, networking and long-term partnerships.
Traders were introduced to a range of products including working capital loans, commercial mortgages, construction and equity release financing, vehicle and equipment finance, leasing, and business banking solutions such as current and savings accounts, fixed and call deposits. Digital offerings highlighted included mobile and online banking, merchant services such as Lipa na M-Pesa, the NCBA Connect Plus cash management platform and NCBA Boosta, a digital lending solution of up to 35 million Kenyan shillings.
NCBA also outlined its SME capacity-building initiatives, including a 10-week Enterprise Development Programme run in partnership with Strathmore Business School and the African Guarantee Fund’s AFAWA Acceleration Programme, which supports women-led enterprises with financing and technical assistance.
NCBA Group operates more than 100 branches across Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Côte d’Ivoire, serving over 60 million customers, making it Africa’s largest banking group by customer numbers.
