The National Commercial Bank of Africa, NCBA has demonstrated its dedication to strengthening Kenya’s small and medium enterprise sector by celebrating 24 SME clients who successfully finished the Strathmore Business School Enterprise Development Programme.
This year’s graduates represent business owners from vital economic sectors including manufacturing, retail, agribusiness, construction, logistics, and professional services.
The programme continues to draw determined entrepreneurs seeking to enhance their leadership capabilities and grow their ventures sustainably.
During the graduation ceremony, Group Director Retail Banking Dennis Njau congratulated the graduates and reaffirmed NCBA’s ongoing commitment to SMEs.
“We believe that when entrepreneurs grow, the country grows. This programme gives our customers the practical knowledge, confidence and partnerships they need to take bold steps in their businesses. NCBA remains committed to walking this journey with them through capacity building and strong financial solutions,” Director Njau stated.
The Enterprise Development Programme forms a central element of NCBA’s SME banking approach and aims to provide business owners with robust leadership capabilities and practical growth tools.
The programme strengthens entrepreneurs’ resilience, refines their strategic thinking, and equips them to handle the dynamic business landscape.
Director Njau emphasized NCBA’s expanding network of SME support mechanisms, including financial products backed by strategic alliances with the Africa Guarantee Fund, AFAWA, Water.Org, and Proparco.
These collaborations enable NCBA to minimize risk, enhance credit accessibility, and assist entrepreneurs in critical areas such as women-led enterprises, climate adaptation, and water and sanitation financing.
They also improve NCBA’s capacity to effectively finance SMEs poised for expansion.
The 16-week Enterprise Development Programme blends classroom instruction with hands-on mentorship, addressing financial management, operations, marketing, innovation, leadership, and digital transformation.
Participants gain from networking opportunities, collaborative learning, and exposure to authentic market intelligence. The programme has generated concrete results for over 300 NCBA clients throughout its history.
Strathmore Business School recognized the productive partnership with NCBA and their mutual dedication to cultivating a thriving SME sector.
The institution emphasized its commitment to providing practical educational experiences that tackle genuine entrepreneurial challenges.
NCBA continues to welcome customers to register for upcoming programme sessions.
The bank urges business owners seeking growth to utilize both the programme and the bank’s comprehensive range of SME offerings.
To qualify for future cohorts, applicants must be NCBA clients with an active business account for a minimum of six months.
The enterprise should have operated for at least two years, employ at least three people, and generate annual revenue of at least three million shillings. Applicants must also serve as the primary decision-makers in their businesses.
NCBA and Strathmore Business School maintain their collaboration through the Entrepreneurship Development and Innovation Centre, delivering additional programmes including the Owner Manager Programme, business boot camps, networking forums, trade expos, and industry conferences.
These initiatives aim to enable SMEs and MSMEs to achieve sustainable and confident growth.
