Equity Bank Kenya, in partnership with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), launched a $20 million Risk Sharing Facility (RSF) in February 2025 to enhance financial inclusion within underserved regions in Kenya, including refugees and host communities.
The program, unveiled at an event in Kakuma, Turkana County will be implemented in 14 marginalized counties across Kenya, among them Turkana and Garissa which host Kakuma and Dadaab refugee camps, with the goal of supporting refugees and their host communities towards social economic empowerment that ultimately lead to self-reliance.
The project is expected to serve as a model for similar private sector support initiatives in other African countries hosting large refugee populations. In Africa, there are an estimated 30 million internally displaced persons, refugees, and asylum-seekers representing almost one-third of the world’s refugee population.
IFC is taking on 50 percent of the exposure ($10 million) in the risk sharing facility, which will increase access to finance for businesses owned and run by refugees in Kenya and those in surrounding host communities.
This initiative is the first to be supported by the Partnership for Improving Prospects for Forcibly Displaced Persons and Host Communities (PROSPECTS), which is investing $4 million in the facility. PROSPECTS is a partnership initiated by the Netherlands that aims to improve the access of host communities and forcibly displaced people to education, social protection, and decent work in East Africa and the Middle East.
IFC will also provide a comprehensive advisory services program to enhance Equity Bank of Kenya’s microlending and non-financial services for target customers.
The Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (WE-FI), a multi-partner global commitment to improve funding for women-led micro, small and medium enterprises launched in 2023, is also supporting the facility for Equity Bank of Kenya, which includes a 40 percent first loss guarantee and a performance-based incentive to promote financing for women-led businesses.