CBK begins removal of 4.2 million Kenyans from CRB blacklist

The Central Bank of Kenya has announced the rollout of a plan to remove over 4 million Kenyans from the Credit Reference Bureau (CRB) blacklist.

The affected Kenyans will benefit from the Credit Repair Framework whose rollout was announced on Monday, November 14, 2022.

The plan involves giving a 6-month window for those listed in the CRB by digital and mobile phone lenders to clear their loans or enter into repayment plans.

CBK Governor Patrick Njoroge CBK Governor Patrick Njoroge Pulse Live Kenya

“The framework seeks to improve the credit standing of mobile phone digital borrowers whose loans are non-performing and have been reported as such to Credit Reference Bureaus (CRBs),” the CBK said.

The rollout will involve commercial banks, microfinance banks and mortgage finance companies.

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The concerned lenders will contact their eligible borrowers to provide them with further details of the Framework.

“The institutions will provide a discount of at least fifty per cent of the non-performing mobile phone digital loans outstanding as of the end of October 2022 and update the borrowers’ credit standing from non-performing to performing.

“The institution will then enter into a repayment plan with the borrowers for a period up to May 31, 2023, for the balance of the loan,” CBK said.

CBK Governor Patrick Njoroge hosts the post-MPC press conference on May 31, 2022 Pulse Live Kenya

After May 31, 2023, the credit standing of the borrowers will depend on their repayment performance.

The framework will cover loans with a repayment period of 30 days or less and were offered through mobile phones.

The 4.2 million Kenyans are said to have a collective debt of Sh30 billion.

The borrowers covered in the framework are mainly in the personal and micro enterprises sectors and were adversely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

This comes just months after President William Ruto announced that his government would help over 4 million Kenyans be removed from the list of defaulters held by the CRB.

“I am very happy that between four and five million Kenyans will by the beginning of November be out of blacklisting,” the President said on Wednesday.

“That is very important because they have been excluded from any formal borrowing because of black listing and have been left at the mercy of shylocks and predatory lenders that exploit them and many Kenyan pay as much as 1000 per cent,” Ruto said in September 2022.

CBK concluded the statement by reminding Kenyans to honour their payment obligations on their credit facilities when they fall due.