It's Africa's Time: The Role of Private Enterprise as an Enabler of Progress

 

Kenya is my home, so what is happening in Africa is very close to my heart. I joined Citi seven years ago because Citi is one of the few financial institutions with a wide footprint across Africa. We are in 16 countries, and one of our main objectives is helping grow the private sector of their economies. As Citi's Corporate Bank Head for Kenya, I am privileged to be able to work with and help many of these entrepreneurs and businesses.

 

High unemployment and a population that still largely depends on subsistence farming mean Africa has significant room for private enterprises to scale up and provide jobs and income for people. Our local businesses can have very advanced banking needs, however. Even smaller business may need help with foreign exchange because their receipts are in a local currency but they often need to import goods using foreign currencies.

 

Citi is uniquely positioned to help out in these cases because we can draw on our know-how and experience as a global bank, and translate those solutions to fit the local market better than anyone else. I can easily work with colleagues across multiple continents to create solutions to complicated financial needs, such as those of our client KickStart International.

 

KickStart is empowering subsistence farmers to become entrepreneurs by enabling them to grow crops year-round using affordable, manually powered water pumps. With the pumps, they can now grow more than enough to feed their own families. They can raise multiple crops each year, obtaining better yields and higher prices.

 

Citi is providing working capital to buy the inventory from China, along with foreign exchange and transaction services to import pumps to Africa and then sell them to farmers in remote, rural areas. The farmers have to pay a small price for the pumps, which gives them the incentive to work hard. The farmers earn an income that lets them save and plan for the future.

 

From my office in Nairobi I see every day visible evidence of the economic and social progress that private enterprise is creating here in Kenya, and beyond. That's the message of the It's Africa's Time series, where KickStart is profiled, and here at Citi I'm proud to be able to be a part of that change.