Equity Group impact investments hit Ksh.99.5B in 2025 Sustainability Report

In its latest sustainability report, the Group says it is increasingly channeling resources towards sectors that directly support livelihoods, job creation and economic growth. Here's Jasmine Wambui with that report.

Small businesses, agriculture and climate action are among the biggest areas of focus for Equity Group, as the lender seeks to expand its impact beyond conventional banking.

In its 2025 Sustainability Report, Equity says it invested a record Ksh.99.5 billion in social and environmental initiatives across its regional operations. A significant share of this financing went towards supporting businesses, with Ksh.404 billion disbursed to MSMEs.

The Group also reports having trained more than 962,000 entrepreneurs, while over 622,000 farmers benefited from its agricultural support programmes.

"I’m glad that we are accredited with the global climate fund, so that we could bring funds that could really help farmers to adopt sustainable climate-smart practices that help them adapt and mitigate climate change, so that they can continue to produce food and hopefully manage inflation," said Dr James Mwangi, Group CEO, Equity.

Equity says it deployed more than Ksh.26 billion in sustainable financing last year, supporting investments aimed at reducing environmental risks. The lender also distributed nearly 76,000 clean-energy products and planted 9.1 million trees. Its social investments extended to education and healthcare, with more than 60,000 scholarships and nearly 9,800 paid internships facilitated.

Its Equity Afya network has grown to 150 medical centres, serving more than 4.6 million patient visits in total.

"The theme of this year’s report, a sustainable world is a transformed Africa, is a powerful statement. It does more than report on progress; it challenges the old, outdated narrative that a country must choose between economic development and environmental sustainability," German Ambassador to Kenya Sebastian Groth commented.

And with access to financing remaining a major challenge for businesses, Equity is now setting higher lending targets for productive sectors. By 2030, the lender wants small businesses to account for 65 percent of its Kenyan loan book, agriculture 30 percent and manufacturing 15 percent.