Ms. Rosemary Kantai is a microfinance specialist with over twenty-three years of hands-on experience in the development field, twenty of them in Micro-finance operations, product development, management and training. For four years she was involved in the provision of Business development services in Undugu Society of Kenya and headed the business development team. She joined Kenya Women Finance Trust (KWFT) as a Credit Manager in 1991 with the responsibility of setting up the micro finance operations of the institution. She has 15 years of managing a very profitable portfolio – 5 years as a Credit Manager, 5 years as the Chief Programs Manager and the last 5 years as the General Manager – Operations. Kenya Women Finance Trust is one of the leading deposit taking Microfinance banks in the country.
Rosemary has been involved institution restructuring, development and launch of new products (for both the urban and rural clientele), designing product operational manuals, staff development and review of management information systems.
In July 2006, Rosemary left KWFT and started offering consultancy services specializing in Microfinance and Enterprise development. Over time she has undertaken various consultancy assignments mainly in Institutional Assessments, Training needs assessment, Capacity Building, Business Development Services, Market research, project design and management in different institutions. Rosemary has been involved in Peacebuilding and conflict resolution for the microfinance sector consulting for the Association of Microfinance Institutions (AMFI). Rosemary is a Faculty member of the School of Applied Microfinance (SAM).
Rosemary holds a master’s in education (Entrepreneurship) from the university of Illinois and a Bed (Hons) in Business Administration and Economics from Kenyatta University. She is currently undertaking a PhD in Leadership and Governance from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT).
Rosemary has also completed the Microfinance Training of Trainers Course (MFTOT 9 – 2013) – a 6-month course offered by Tokyo Development Learning Centre. She also holds various training certificates in different fields of Microfinance and community development from internationally recognized training institutions in addition to having extensive exposure to different institutions in Bangladesh, Latin America and other countries.
Other responsibilities:
Ø Board member – SOLUTI
Ø Member of the Technical Advisory Panel – Five Talents Kenya Board