President Uhuru Kenyatta's Government has kicked off the process of consolidating six financial institutions into one mega development bank.
The six institutions are Kenya Industrial Estates, Development Bank of Kenya, Industrial Development Bank of Kenya, Uwezo Fund, Youth Enterprise Development Fund and the Women Enterprise Development Fund.
According to a press release from State House, the government aims to merge the institutions due to the overlapping roles they each perform, to increase efficiency.
A transitional inter-agency taskforce has been formed to review the legal regulatory and institutional framework involved in the process.
[caption caption="File image of President Uhuru Kenyatta with Head of Public Service Joseph Kinyua"]
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Head of Public Service, Joseph Kinyua, has also issued a notice to the affected agencies to convey orders for the interim period.
"Any filling of vacancies in the Boards as well as of CEOs across all identified State Corporations/Funds should only be done after necessary consultations with the Head of Public Service to ensure consistency with recommended reforms," Mr Kinyua's circular stated in part.
The Government has further directed that members of staff in the institutions should be retained pending further instructions.
The merger will ensure that the new agency facilitates the acquisition of loans from the Government ranging from industrial development loans to loans for a specific cadre of people such as women and the youth.
Mr Kinyua emphasised that the greatest beneficiaries of the merger are small and medium scale enterprises and the youth as leaks in current programmes will be tightened.
"This move is in line with the parastatal reforms that were recommended by the President’s taskforce on parastatal reforms in 2013," he added.
[caption caption="File image of a beneficiary of the Youth Enterprise Development Fund exhibiting at the Nairobi Trade Fair"]
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