FMO, PTA Bank Kenya sign agreement

PTA Bank Kenya, jointly owned by 17 COMESA countries, China and the African Development Bank, is the largest cross-border financial institution of its kind on the African continent. Under the agreement, FMO will provide an year-year term facility for an amount of US$20 million, most of which will be used to develop small and medium enterprises across PTA Bank's markets.

Upon signing the agreement, Jurgen Rigterink, chief information officer of FMO, told the forum delegates: “We are delighted and eager to work with PTA Bank, which we consider to be a crucial partner for development. Through PTA Bank, FMO will be able to assist entrepreneurs who were out of reach until now. We are very excited to strengthen our partnership and leverage its potential.”

His counterpart, Dr. Michael Gondwe, CEO of PTA Bank Kenya, made a direct appeal to the entrepreneurs in the audience: “This funding is for you” he said, adding that “the biggest challenge in Africa is not the lack of financing but the lack of bankable ideas. We want to grow and will not take shortcuts just because we are in Africa”, he said. “The challenge is with you, we don't want these funds to sit in our banks, we want them to be exhausted in 6 months so that you can come back for more.”

Idit Miller, VP and managing director of EMRC, was equally delighted: “We are very happy that AFIF can serve as a background to this kind of deal. This is a perfect example demonstrating that AFIF provides the best kind of environment, atmosphere and audience to foster partnerships. This deal will provide crucial help to SMEs around the continent.”

The AFIF conference was officially yesterday morning, following a series of pre-conference workshops on Sunday, 13 December.