The African Development Bank and Family Bank have signed a $10 million trade finance line of credit aimed at expanding access to foreign currency and financing for Kenyan businesses.
The facility, worth roughly KSh1.3 billion at the reported exchange rate, will target small and medium-sized enterprises and local corporations operating across manufacturing, agriculture, healthcare, renewable energy and general commerce. Women-owned and women-led businesses are also expected to benefit.
The financing comes as foreign currency shortages and restricted access to trade finance continue to constrain businesses across Africa, particularly smaller enterprises involved in importing equipment, raw materials and other productive inputs.
Key Overview
- AfDB and Family Bank have signed a $10 million trade finance line of credit.
- The facility is equivalent to roughly KSh1.3 billion at the reported exchange rate.
- Funding will help Kenyan companies access foreign currency for trade-related transactions.
- Priority sectors include manufacturing, agriculture, healthcare and renewable energy.
- Women-owned and women-led businesses are specifically included among the intended beneficiaries.
- Family Bank says MSMEs account for more than 80% of its customer base.
- Africa’s unmet trade finance demand was estimated at between $74 billion and $92 billion in 2024.
- The facility is also expected to support intra-African trade and the AfCFTA agenda.
$10 Million Facility Targets Kenya’s Trade Financing Gap
The new trade finance line of credit is intended to provide Family Bank with additional foreign-currency resources that can be channelled to Kenyan companies engaged in trade.
Access to foreign currency is particularly important for businesses that need to pay overseas suppliers for machinery, production equipment, medicine, agricultural inputs and raw materials.
The facility will focus on businesses operating in manufacturing, agriculture, healthcare, renewable energy and general commerce, with financing intended to strengthen domestic value chains and expand productive capacity.
AfDB’s trade-finance facilities are structured specifically to support trade-related transactions through African financial institutions, allowing local banks to extend financing to companies that might otherwise struggle to obtain sufficient foreign-currency liquidity.
The partnership is therefore designed to use Family Bank’s domestic customer network to distribute development finance directly to Kenyan businesses.
Context is everything. Stay ahead of shifting trends with today’s market updates, and uncover emerging opportunities using the Serrari Group Market Index and Marketplace. Then, take control of your own financial future by exploring our Money & Life Reset Transformation Blueprint ™ to build stronger habits, create better systems, and design a path toward lasting wealth.
SMEs and Women-Owned Businesses Take Priority
Small and medium-sized businesses are central to the arrangement.
Family Bank Chief Executive Nancy Njau said the facility would strengthen the lender’s ability to increase financing for MSMEs, which currently make up more than 80% of its customer base.
The bank intends to direct part of the funding toward women-owned and women-led enterprises, alongside other local companies requiring trade finance.
Family Bank has continued expanding its lending base. For the six months to June 2026, the lender disbursed KSh35.6 billion to retail and MSME customers, while commercial customers received another KSh15.2 billion.
Its total assets reached KSh238.9 billion by June, representing 24% year-on-year growth, while customer deposits increased 20% to KSh180.2 billion.
The additional AfDB funding could give the bank more capacity to support companies whose growth depends on imported inputs or participation in regional and international supply chains.
Africa Still Faces a Major Trade Finance Shortfall
The agreement also forms part of a wider effort to narrow Africa’s persistent trade-finance gap.
The latest continent-wide trade finance assessment found that unmet demand stood at between $74 billion and $92 billion in 2024.
Foreign-exchange liquidity has become one of the biggest constraints. About 36% of surveyed African banks identified limited access to foreign currency as the leading restriction on expanding their trade-finance activities between 2020 and 2024.
Commercial banks also intermediated only about 23% of total African trade during that period, compared with approximately 40% before the pandemic.
Development finance institutions have helped fill part of the gap, providing an estimated $32 billion in trade finance annually between 2020 and 2024.
Facility Could Support More Intra-African Trade
The agreement is also expected to contribute to stronger trade between African economies.
Between 2020 and 2024, intra-African transactions represented 34% of total bank-intermediated African trade, an 89% increase compared with pre-pandemic levels.
Improving access to trade finance can help Kenyan companies purchase goods from neighbouring markets, expand regional distribution networks and participate more effectively in opportunities created by the African Continental Free Trade Area.
For Kenyan SMEs, the immediate benefit is potentially simpler access to financing for actual trade transactions. For AfDB, the facility advances a broader strategy of using local financial institutions to channel funding into businesses that create jobs, increase production and deepen regional value chains.
The deal also builds on an existing relationship between the two institutions. In 2023, AfDB approved a broader $30 million trade and SME financing package for Family Bank that included trade credit, guarantees and medium-term SME financing.
The latest $10 million facility reinforces that partnership while responding specifically to the foreign-currency and trade-financing needs currently facing Kenyan businesses.
Sources: African Development Bank / Family Bank / The Standard
Your financial future isn’t something you wait for—it’s something you build.
The real question is: when do you begin?
Move beyond simply staying informed.
Navigate the markets with clarity—track trends through the Serrari Group Market Index, uncover opportunities in the Serrari Marketplace, and build practical knowledge with our Curated Wealth Builder Platform.
Stay connected to what truly matters.
Get daily insights on macro trends and financial movements across Kenya, Africa, and global markets—delivered through the Serrari Newsletter.
Growth opens doors.
Advance your career through professional programs including ACCA, HESI A2, ATI TEAS 7 , HESI EXIT , NCLEX – RN and NCLEX – PN, Financial Literacy!🌟—designed to move you forward with confidence.
See where money is flowing—clearly and in real time.
Track Money Market Funds, Treasury Bills, Treasury Bonds, Green Bonds, and Fixed Deposits, alongside global and African indexes, key economic indicators, and the evolving Crypto and stablecoin landscape—all within Serrari’s Market Index.
