The Equity Group Foundation is an Africa-based corporate foundation founded by Equity Bank, a Kenyan bank that serves a large region of Africa and is known for its commitment to corporate social responsibility issues. The foundation provides programs and grants focused on education, financial well-being, and health care, including scholarships and financial literacy education. The foundation works with other funding and implementation partners, including left-of-center foundations and government agencies such as the Mastercard Foundation, USAID, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the International Labor Organization. ^{1 2}

The foundation operates a U.S.-based arm called the Equity Group Foundation International. ³

Background

The Equity Group Foundation was founded by Equity Bank in 2010. Equity Bank is a division of Equity Group Holdings, formerly known as the Equity Building Society. The bank operates throughout several countries in Africa and is known for its commitment to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles. The bank became a full-scale commercial bank in 2006 and is the largest bank by market capitalization on the Nairobi Securities Exchange. The bank heavily promotes its work through the Equity Group Foundation, stating that the foundation “continues to capitalize on Social and Impact Investments, a move whose success was evidenced by the growth of its customer numbers to over 10.1 million by the end of 2015.” ⁴

Focuses of the foundation include “transformation and modernization of agriculture through agribusiness activities, micro-business enhancement through financial literacy and entrepreneurship training, inclusion through social payments and development of ethical leaders through scholarships under the Wings to Fly scholarship and Equity Leaders Programs.” ⁵

Activity

The Equity Group Foundation operates programs and funds efforts related to education and financial literacy. The foundation works with funding and implantation partners including governments, corporations, and left-of-center grantmaking foundations. The foundation remains closely tied to Equity Bank and reaches many of the bank’s 14 million account holders. It also relies on the bank to cover much of the overhead costs of the foundation. The foundation had a goal of reaching 100 million Africans through its programs and funding efforts by 2024. ⁶

The foundation funds a variety of efforts related to energy and the environment, including solar, water, and wind-powered energy projects, and promotes the adoption of weather-dependent energy production methods throughout Africa. ⁷

Oher project areas of the group include financial literacy education, healthcare access, and food and agriculture. The foundation is a member of the Malabo Declaration on Accelerated Agricultural Growth in Africa. ^{8 9 10}

The foundation’s education and scholarship programs include its Wings to Fly Scholarship and the Equity Leaders Program. The foundation has provided over 60,000 scholarships to African students since 2010 to attend secondary school as well as universities throughout the world. Graduates of the program participate in the group’s Equity Leaders Program, which provides professional development training to the foundation’s former scholarship recipients. ¹¹

Partner Organizations

Funding and implementation partners of the Equity Group Foundation include the Mastercard Foundation, the World Bank, USAID, UKAID, the European Union, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, UNICEF, and Oxfam. ¹²

1. “Partners.” Equity Group Foundation. Accessed January 19, 2024. https://equitygroupfoundation.com/Partners/
2. “About Us.” Equity Group Foundation. Accessed January 19, 2024. https://equitygroupfoundation.com/about-us/
3. “About Us.” Equity Group Foundation. Accessed January 19, 2024. https://equitygroupfoundation.com/about-us/
4. “Our History.” Equity Group Foundation. Accessed January 19, 2024. https://equitygroupholdings.com/our-history/
5. “Our History.” Equity Group Foundation. Accessed January 19, 2024. https://equitygroupholdings.com/our-history/
6. “About Us.” Equity Group Foundation. Accessed January 19, 2024. https://equitygroupfoundation.com/about-us/
7. “Energy and Environment.” Equity Group Foundation. Accessed January 19, 2024. https://equitygroupfoundation.com/energy-and-environment/
8. “Agriculture and Agribusiness.” Equity Group Foundation. Accessed January 19, 2024. https://equitygroupfoundation.com/agriculture-and-agri-business/
9. “Health.” Equity Group Foundation. Accessed January 19, 2024. https://equitygroupfoundation.com/health/
10. “Entrepreneurship and Financial Education.” Equity Group Foundation. Accessed January 19, 2024. https://equitygroupfoundation.com/entrepreneurship-and-financial-education/
11. “Education and Leadership Development.” Equity Group Foundation. Accessed January 19, 2024. https://equitygroupfoundation.com/education-and-leadership-development/
12. ^[1] “Equity Group Foundation Social Impact Investments.” Equity Group Foundation. 2023. Accessed January 19, 2024. https://equitygroupfoundation.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/EGF-Social-Impact-Investments.pdf