Ministry of Co-operatives and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises will support youth enterprises in Agro business, leather, textiles, milk, edible oils, construction sector, Dairy and livestock.
Youth in manufacturing sector are set to benefit from a new scheme by the government that will see them access grants of up to Kshs 6 million to scale up operations.
SMEs will also benefit from a Kshs 2.7 billion facility that will deepen support, digitize and train the businesses.
Simon Chelugui, The Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Cooperatives and Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, notes that whereas Kenya has developed programs and initiatives to support Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) over the years, their potential is yet to be fully untapped.
The grant is a government’s initiative aimed at supporting key value chains in the country that have economic potential.
The national government through the president and the council of governors approved to contribute Kshs 4.7 billion each for the establishment of industrial parks in every county.
These parks will see the creation of a project dubbed ‘Viwanda mashinani’ where young manufacturers in their various counties will get grants from the government of up to Kshs 6 million.
Kenya has 7.5 million Small and medium enterprises that contribute 30 percent of the country’s 14 trillion Gross Domestic Product.
Access to finance and affordability are the main challenges hindering the achievement of success in SMEs.
