Co-op Bank in Sh1b student startups funding deal with Acorn and Absa

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Joel Kaba, Director of Youth Financial Services at Co-op Bank with Edward Kirathe, Chief Executive Officer, Acorn Holdings Limited and Abdi Mohamed, MD and CEO Absa Bank Kenya jointly launch Zinduka Graduate Enterprise Programme. [Brian Ngugi, Standard]

Co-operative Bank of Kenya has committed Sh1 billion to a joint programme with Acorn Holdings and Absa Bank Kenya that offers unsecured housing loans and startup capital to university students, targeting a chronic shortage of student beds and a formal job market that absorbs only one in ten graduates.

The "Zinduka" Graduate Enterprise Programme aims to support 5,000 to 10,000 new businesses annually, with graduates accessing loans of between Sh200,000 and Sh500,000, the partners said in a joint statement on Tuesday.

Kenya has approximately 500,000 university students but fewer than 40,000 university-provided beds, leaving about 460,000 students in informal, unregulated accommodation that is often unsafe and expensive, the partners said.