The Co-operative Bank of Kenya has received the SME Financier of the Year in Africa Award in Mumbai, India, for contributing to small and medium enterprises.

The award is by the International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank that highlights the roles played by banks and fintech companies in aiding the MSME sector to achieve their business objectives.

“We are encouraged by this award as a demonstration that we have listened, studied and built competitive solutions for SMEs to realize their goals,” said Co-op Bank Managing Director and CEO Gideon Muriuki.

The awards are organized by the SME Finance Forum and endorsed by the G20’s Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI).

“This competition makes me very positive that we are on the right track to greatly narrow the SME finance gap,” said Matthew Gamser, CEO of the SME Finance Forum.

The SME Finance Forum is a network of over 250 leading banks, Non-bank financial institutions (NFBIs), fintechs and development banks, created by the G20 in 2012 and managed by the International Finance Corporation (IFC).