Banking and its contribution to economic development.

Major Challenges:
Youth Unemployment Targets ? How do we encourage investment into Mombasa ? How do we contribute to increase our GDP ? How can the Financial Institutions contribute ?

Micro Finance.Lessions from Fursa Leo.

Needs Training, ideas, Financing. MFIs marginally profitable, long gestation period. MFIs are critical to poverty alleviation and job creation. Well run MFIs have very low default ratios and therefore good credit risks for banks.

Banks should link and support and guarantee local MFIs to access international investor funds from IDB, IFC, Princes Trust (UK), Endevor (US) etc. Most of these funds need long track records etc.

SME Small and Medium Enterprises.(1)

Biggest opportunity for Kenya. SMEs contribute 60% of South East Asias economic production and 90% of the jobs. Perceived as high risk are but a 2003 Mckenzie study in India showed that risk is industry specific and not size specific.

Banks can encourage SMEs by acting as bridges between large companies and SMEs which act as suppliers/subcontractors to large companies.

SME Small and Medium Enterprises. (2)

Banks to encourage export financing and expos. Banks to finance development of markets and submarkets. Banks to finance equipment needed by SMEs Government to act as guarantor to the banks to mitigate the banks risks. India has set a successful example with SIDBI.

Large Businesses (1).

The Competitive Advantage of Nations (Michael Porter) identified CLUSTERS as the ideal way to promote development.

Nations have either a competitive natural advantage (Abu Dhabi and oil) or CREATE one (Bangalore and ITC).
Kenya needs to create our own competitive clusters. Most successful nations CREATE competitive advantages.

Large Businesses (2)

Develop Mombasa by identifying potential clusters and help market them. Potential clusters : Shipping services (Ship repairs, bunkering etc) free port trade facilities and services , tea and coffee, Internet related services, Used cars market (68,500 cars annually for Kenya alone). Value retained $ 68,500,000 and hundreds of new jobs created.

LABOUR EXPORTS.
Classic examples Phillipines, Bangladesh, Egypt. Phillipines exports 250,000 sailors and generates $4 billion annually. Phillipines exports nurses, medical staff etc and makes 10 times more than its maid exports. Bangladesh exports largely labor and its value returns are lower.

LABOUR EXPORTS.
Training financing seamen needs 45k financing for their seamens book. Major solution to unemployment of semi skilled at the coast.

Travel expense financing.

Travel abroad insurance. (Kenyans stranded abroad)

Government can act as guarantor against passport issue etc.

OPPORTUNITIES FROM THE DIASPORA.

Ministry for the Kenyan Diaspora to market our skills abroad .Ministry to protect our workers abroad. They contribute almost $ 1 billion and will soon exceed tourism.

Banks should finance training needs for the diaspora before they leave.
Banks to help channel Diaspora money into investments in Kenya India did this successfully with NRI projects. Government should look for tax incentives to encourage the Kenyans abroad to invest back in Kenya.

EMPLOYMENT TARGETS.
Ksh. 100,000,000/Ksh.100,000 = 1000 projects each employing 5 people will create 5000 jobs. In 5 years this will create 25,000 new jobs. Ksh 100 million($ 1.1 million) is less than 2% of Mombasas 2013 budget. Ksh. 50 million(revolving fund) will finance 1000 new seamen jobs. Thats another 5000 jobs in 5 years. Clusters can contribute to another 20,000 new jobs over the next 5 years.

Conclusion.
Banks do not look at the big picture of the economy and tend to focus more on existing client needs. They need to create products and projects that will support our economic goals. Such products are not in line with the annual short term targets of banks. Government needs to create incentives to encourage banks to offer such products and consider offering some guarantees to mitigate their risks.

Close cooperation is needed between Financial institutions and Government is critical to incentivize development goals.