MOBILIST supports the launch of a securitisation platform to expand SME lending in Kenya

Technical assistance from MOBILIST contributed to the creation of a securitisation platform that will enable African lenders to recycle capital and expand lending to smallholder farmers, women entrepreneurs, clean energy, and small businesses.

The new digital securitisation platform, created by Indian Fintech company Kaleidofin, offers a tech solution for lenders to convert portfolios of small-business and agricultural loans into securities.

This supports the development of Kenya’s local capital market by transforming the loans into assets that institutional investors, such as pension funds, can invest in. By selling these loans through securitisation, lenders can unlock cash from their balance sheet and use it to extend more loans.

The first transaction on the platform securitised a credit portfolio from Apollo Agriculture, with the IDH Farmfit Fund acting as anchor investor. Apollo provides financing for farming inputs to smallholder farmers on cash or credit terms, enabling them to increase their harvests and livelihoods. This securitisation enables the company to expand financing to smallholder farmers who often struggle to access formal credit.

The transaction was Kenya’s first private-sector local-currency securitisation in the smallholder agriculture sector – a milestone for the Kenyan credit market. It represents the first step in a broader securitisation programme expected to mobilise approximately KES 2.37 billion and reach more than 130,000 farmers over time.

The platform is expected to serve as a blueprint for similar structures across emerging markets, demonstrating how securitisation technology and development finance can come together to create investable opportunities for institutional investors, while also expanding access to capital for underserved borrowers.

To further develop and tap into domestic capital markets, Kaleidofin anticipates listing the senior tranches of future transactions on public exchanges, like the Nairobi Securities Exchange.

Sucharita Mukherjee, Co-founder and CEO of Kaleidofin, said: “We designed the Kaleidofin platform to function as scalable market infrastructure for traditionally excluded customer segments. By enabling customised structuring and data-driven risk insights, we are building the foundations for institutional capital to flow into sectors such as smallholder agriculture in a sustainable way.”

Ross Ferguson, MOBILIST Programme Lead, said: MOBILIST is proud to support the establishment of Kaleidofin’s multi-originator securitisation platform. Through this initial transaction, the platform paves the way for agricultural and other SME lenders to unlock capital through the issuance of investible securities and the broader development of Kenya’s debt capital markets.”

MOBILIST provided technical assistance in creating the digital securitisation platform, contributing to tax and structuring guidance for the transaction. It was also supported by technical assistance from both FSD Africa and British International Investment (BII), an existing investor in Apollo Agriculture through its technical assistance facility, BII Plus. This demonstrates how a broader ecosystem of partners, including UK development initiatives, is working to develop the enabling environment for African agriculture to access the financing it needs to grow.