The first batch of 9,000 residents of Kakamega county who applied for soft loans from the county government will start accessing the money today.
The county government released Sh125 million towards the loan scheme on Friday with the applicants set to receive between Sh5,000 and Sh20,000 to start or boost small businesses.
County trade, tourism and industrialisation executive Elsie Muhanda said yesterday in Kakamega town they are partnering with the Kenya Commercial Bank in the programme.
She said there were 50,000 applications initially, but the number was whittled down to 15,000 after a rigorous vetting process. Muhanda said disbursement of funds to the remaining 6,000 applicants will be done soon.
“We received applications from residents who wanted as much as Sh500,000. We have, however, put them on hold because we want to start with the low cadre ones to enable them grow their small businesse,” she said.
The loans are repayable in a period of between six months and one year and will be disbursed through KCB. Those who pay within a shorter period will qualify for double the amount they had received in the first round.
Muhanda said the loan kitty will be increased to Sh300 million in the next one year and eventually Sh1 billion to reach more residents. She urged the residents to make good use of the loans to uplift their living standards, noting that the loans are interest-free.
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