The United States Development Finance Corporation has announced plans to establish an office in Nairobi as it seeks to expand its footprint in Africa.
The announcement is informed by its need to facilitate financing for development projects, promote private sector growth, and strengthen US-Africa trade relations.
It is set to serve as a strategic hub to enhance its investment activities and support economic growth in the region.
"It will play a key role in driving its pipeline development across key sectors in the country in agriculture, health, e-mobility, energy, infrastructure, and financial inclusion," the White House said in a statement.
This, it adds, includes on-lending to small and medium-sized enterprises and women entrepreneurs.
DFC is a development finance institution and agency of the US investing in development projects in lower and middle-income countries.
The announcement came following the state visit by President William Ruto to the US.
White House stated that, as part of its ongoing initiatives, DFC recently approved a loan of approximately $180 million to Acorn Green Housing, a real estate developer that constructs and operates affordable student housing in Kenya.
"The DFC investment is expected to catalyze an additional $360 million in local Kenyan investment in one of the largest green housing portfolios in Africa," the statement reads.
In addition, through Pezesha Africa Limited, the lender is providing a $500,000 technical assistance grant to build a proprietary credit scoring model.
This will improve the company's underwriting capabilities for small and medium-sized enterprise clients.
Pezesha is a capital enablement lending infrastructure platform focused on increasing access to finance for retail trade MSMEs by integrating financial services into existing supply chain verticals.
DFC recently announced a $500,000 loan to Kenyan-based Keep IT Cool, a business-to-business aggregation and sales platform to connect fish farmers with buyers utilizing cold chain technology.
This loan was part of the Africa Small Business Catalyst program in partnership with USADF and USAID.
The institution has also announced a $10 million second loss guarantee to the African fertiliser and agribusiness partnership.
This is aimed at expanding the sale of fertiliser on credit to small and medium-sized enterprise agri-input suppliers in Kenya, Zambia, and Ghana.
The deal is expected to enable up to $360 million in additional fertiliser sales in these three countries over the next three years, furthering regional food security and agricultural production.
Kentegra Biotechnology has also received a $10 million loan to support the construction of a new facility to scale up its production capacity of pale refined pyrethrum extract, a key ingredient in organic pesticides.
"DFC’s loan provides women farmers with more predictable income, higher prices than alternative crop options, and training to implement best farming practices and financial planning tools to fully benefit from the increased incomes resulting from pyrethrum cultivation," the White House said.
According to the White House, the US Trade and Development Agency previously announced a grant of $660,000 for a feasibility study.
This is aimed at supporting the development of this facility to facilitate Kenya’s ability to respond to international demand for safer and environmentally friendlier insecticides.