NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 18 – Standard Chartered Kenya has announced that Gertrudes Hospital is the latest company to complete a drawdown from the Bank’s global USD1 billion COVID-19 financing commitment, underscoring its ongoing efforts to support local businesses in the pandemic response.
Standard Chartered’s extension of Sh200 million credit line to Gertrude’s Hospital in fight against Covid-19 at preferential rate would be used to support the Hospital’s cash flow due to the additional requirements to treat covid-19.
Commenting on the impact of COVID-19 on people and the need to support businesses combating the pandemic, Birju Sanghrajka, Head of Global Banking, Kenya & East Africa said: “Coronavirus disease continue to put pressure on healthcare system in the country and many hospitals have had to adjust to this new reality which has also meant that they make additional investments in equipment and consumables. This line of credit will go a long way in helping the Gertrude’s provide additional personal protective equipment (PPE) requirements, additional staffing and manage its cash flow.”
Access to funds is a key factor in business recovery following a crisis of this magnitude. At Standard Chartered Kenya, and globally, our focus has been on supporting our long-standing and new partners to recover fully, and to contribute to the fight against the pandemic, added Mr. Birju
Gertrude’s Hospital Chief Executive Officer Dr. Robert Nyarango said the Covid-19 pandemic had put much pressure on hospitals and a strain on their resources.
“The outbreak of the Coronavirus disease Covid-19 has meant that we now have to spend more to ensure every healthcare worker has appropriate PPE for their protection during this period. We also have had to increase our staffing to ensure that there is an adequate pre-screening process for patient safety and to identify potential COVID cases prior to entrance to the facility. This means additional investments in the necessary equipment and we are grateful to Standard Cratered Bank for extending the credit facility at a competitive rate,” Dr. Nyarang said.
The financing came at an opportune time and we are very grateful to Standard Chartered because we managed to consolidate all our obligations into one interest free payment. This has been of great benefit to us considering the cash outlays required at this time of COVID-19 with a plunge in business and capital required to meet MOH guidelines for patient safety, added Dr. Nyarang.
Standard Chartered set up the $1 billion global financing commitment to extend not-for-profit financing to companies that provide goods and services to help the fight against Covid-19, and those planning the switch into making products that are in high demand to fight the global pandemic and a comprehensive support scheme for retail and business customers, including loan repayment holidays, fee waivers or cancellations and loan extension facilities.
