Uproar and condescension towards the seeming “invasion” of hawkers in Nairobi’s Central Business District has recently been rife.
With a commitment from Nairobi’s County Government to regulate rather than frustrate pedlars, the presence of those selling wares in town will continue into the future, much to the chagrin of those who oppose their presence.
While consensus on Small and Medium Enterprises is that they will be crucial to the growth and development of Kenya’s economy, it is important to avoid picking and choosing when and where we value these outfits.
A SME is not restricted to mobile apps or tech in general. Mama mbogas, boda boda operators and hawkers are SMEs and, as such, deserve the same empowerment that all other firms under this category have been promised.
The improvement of business conditions for hawkers, in lieu of traditional deterrent policies, has the potential to provide genuine economic benefits as ease of access to products is increased while individual “retailers” profits increase.
Read: Inadequate Access to Green Funding Hinders SMEs Growth
As Kenya is a capitalist country, economic empowerment is the best way to ensure improvement of conditions. Any measure that can increase economic empowerment is therefore crucial to Kenyan development.
Nairobi’s Governor Johnson Sakaja has repeatedly stated that there are people whose school fees and livelihoods are paid for through the proceeds from hawking and, as such, has pledged to dedicate lanes and backstreets to hawking.
It is a good sign that the leadership of Kenya’s capital city understands that hawkers, too, fall under the oft used term/buzzword of SME.
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