Payments technology firm, MasterCard listed, lender, KCB Group and consumer products maker, Unilever, have jointly launched an Sh16.5 million credit schemes called, Jaza Duka programme to enable micro-retailers get goods on credit. The initiative is expected to support retailers to rebuild businesses hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.
MasterCard Centre for Inclusive Growth (MEA) regional director Natasha Jamal said the partnership is based on a two-year pilot programme that facilitated micro-retailers to keep their business running throughout the Covid-19 pandemic and beyond.
Unilever will inform the products distributed to each retailer that will be analysed by MasterCard and generate micro-credit eligibility recommendations to KCB Bank. KCB on its part will use the data to assess a retailer’s creditworthiness and extend formal credit for stock purchases, which is interest-free for up to 17 days.
Unilever Kenya general manager Luck Ochieng said Jaza Duka offered retailer’s timely access to products thereby cashing in on demand. ‘Jaza Duka’, Swahili for ‘fill up your store’, is part of Mastercard’s Track Micro Credit Program that avails a credit ecosystem for small retailers facing cash constraints by enabling them to access short-term credit.
