OTA Presents Thrive: An Inclusive Credit Facility
Throughout the years, OTA’s strategy has been to foster competitiveness and growth for women-owned and women-led creative businesses through funding, research and capacity building. Projects like the Young Women In Creative Enterprise Fund and Ascend were notably designed to offer financial support and skill enhancement. Through these, we provided resources such as interactive workshops, loans, technical guidance, and business financial modelling, all aimed at empowering these creatives and their businesses to flourish
This year, as part of our bigger strategy, we planned to evolve and expand OTA into an inclusive, industry-agnostic initiative that extends its focus to all business owners. We embarked on the journey of creating this inclusive fund by having comprehensive conversations through a focus group with entrepreneurs across different sectors. The aim of the discussions were to gain insights into the group’s past experiences with financing, pinpoint challenges in securing investment, and understand their financial requisites, with the aim of conceptualising an inclusive loan facility with terms and products responsive to their circumstances. The discussions brought to light key challenges faced by entrepreneurs while trying to access funding were;
Formalization Processes - Entrepreneurs shared the weighty burden of business formalization due to cost, red tape, marginalized identities which often acted as barriers, dampening their potential for growth and expansion.
Collateral requirements - Lack of access to assets for collateral due to sociocultural reasons
Financial literacy - The discussions exposed some entrepreneurs' lack of knowledge on the understanding of different types of investments available
causing them to lack access to loan facilities.
Financial management - Entrepreneurs cited challenges related to financial management that include the costs associated with financial accounts and audits. Additionally, technical aspects like creating business plans, forecasting, and feasibility studies posed obstacles due to the required expertise.
Unsupportive policy/operating environment - Entrepreneurs pointed to the unfavorable impact of unsupportive policies and operating environments. Regulatory barriers, cumbersome procedures, and lack of favorable incentives can limit their ability to secure funding and navigate their businesses effectively.
Through this journey of exploration, we illuminated the multifaceted challenges entrepreneurs face while striving to secure essential financial resources for their business growth. As we move forward, these insights have become our guiding stars, directing our focus toward crafting a fund that not only empowers through investment but also fosters a thriving ecosystem of comprehensive assistance.
Having synthesised all perspectives from these discussions, we're thrilled to introduce 'Thrive'—a responsive credit facility. Thrive is dedicated to supporting diverse and inclusive Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Kenya, enabling them to expand production capacities, launch new products, adopt cutting-edge technology, and extend distribution networks within the Kenyan market.
This facility is directed at supporting businesses’ financial needs as well as the acquisition of production assets. Alongside the financing, we shall provide the following business support and enterprise training to improve the productivity of successful applicants:
● Provide both financial and non financial support through capacity building.
● Guidance on formalizing both diversity and inclusion policies, and
● Assistance in addressing legal and regulatory compliance.
More information on the Thrive facility overview and application process can be found by clicking the button below
