As the call for organizations to make greater social impact grows louder, Absa Bank Kenya has stepped forward, unveiling a Foundation to better address major issues in society and the environment.

With a seed capital of Kes500 million, the Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed lender said it will be dedicating 1.5 percent of its annual earnings to the Foundation.

Absa Bank Kenya Foundation (AKF) is set to roll out programs touching on four thematic areas including, entrepreneurship, education and skills, natural resource management, and health and humanitarian relief.

The launch of AKF ushers Absa Bank Kenya to the league of leading organizations such as Safaricom, KCB Group, Equity Group, EABL to name but a few that have established Foundations to drive social change and sustainability programmes at scale.

"This Foundation is yet another step forward in our journey to lead and innovate within the financial sector, acting as a catalyst for positive, lasting change. This presents us with an important opportunity to build upon our past experiences to strengthen our ability to create lasting shared value and scalable impact for our communities in a sustainable manner,” Absa Bank Kenya Managing Director and CEO Abdi Mohamed said.

Entrepreneurship pillar

AKF's entrepreneurship pillar aims to empower 50,000 MSMEs over the next five years, with the bulk of the beneficiaries being women. The bank projects to have 60 percent women, 30 percent men, 10 percent youth, and 5 percent empowered MSMEs dedicated to Persons Living with Disabilities (PLWDs).

Additionally, 10 percent of AKF's entrepreneurship empowerment efforts will be directed at generating growth in the agriculture sector.

Under the Education and Skills pillar, the institution aims to reach one million youth through the Ready-to-Work initiative and support 50,000 youth through the Absa Fellowship Program. This undertaking will also see the award of 500 Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) scholarships, with a focus on providing students with future-ready skills.

During the release of the Pan-African bank's Sustainability Report 2023, Adbi announced the plan to launch AKF as one of the milestones that the bank aims to achieve this year. Other goals in the bank's sustainability agenda include unveiling a climate finance strategy and planting one million trees by December 2024.

Absa will also be adopting the IFRS S1 and S2 sustainability reporting standards as it moves to step up transparency, comparability, and most importantly, consistency in its sustainability reporting.

While officiating over the launch event, the Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi, underscored the urgency for partnerships between the government, the private sector and other stakeholders in addressing critical challenges facing the society today.

“The Foundation's launch is particularly timely, given the considerable pressure on Government resources resulting from limited tax and external resources available to support competing challenges such as poverty alleviation and growth challenges as well as supporting priority programme in education, health, infrastructure, and climate-change induced vulnerabilities,” Mr Mudavadi said.

At the same time, Aden Duale, the Cabinet Secretary for the Environment, Climate Change and Forestry said stronger collaboration will be required with the private sector to accelerate environmental and climate action.

“It is only through such strategic collaboration that we can attain the ambitious goal of growing 15 billion trees in the next few years,” Mr Duale said.

“Banks and financial institutions, such as Absa Kenya, have a unique role to play in promoting these sectors. You can facilitate access to capital, provide financial products tailored to forest-based enterprises, and support green businesses,’” he added.

Read also: Absa sets the pace on new sustainability reporting standards for NSE firms

Climate financing

The Foundation plans to expand climate financing contributions under the Natural Resource Management pillar to address climate change concerns through programs such as climate-smart agriculture, renewable energy, tree planting, and tree growing. The Foundation will advocate for low-carbon, climate-resilient development in collaboration with youth, SMEs, and other stakeholders, with the commitment to plant 10 million trees acting as a cornerstone.

Under the Health and Humanitarian Relief pillar, the Foundation will work with development partners and healthcare professionals to address major health issues and promote preventative care. This pillar will also prioritize responding to humanitarian crises such as floods and famine.

Mr. Mohamed said the Foundation’s success will be underscored by different critical partnerships that will support the co-creation, co-funding, and co-implementing of impactful programme in the community.

"We recognize that this is a journey we cannot undertake alone. We require robust partnerships, collaborations, and cooperation with like-minded stakeholders, which will form a solid foundation for the success of this endeavour," he added.

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