Browsing: SMEs

• Eight Kenyan universities have been selected as part of the World Bank’s $55.8 million SME formalisation project.
• In the World Bank plan, 267 young innovators’ students, 10 incubators, 10 accelerators, and 4 tech boot camp providers will be funded.
• The SKIES initiative started with a call for applications that attracted a total of 142 incubators.

Eight Kenyan universities have been selected as part of the World Bank’s $55.8 million (KES7.5 billion) SME formalisation project to provide business development services to micro, small and medium enterprises. Kenya Industrial Entrepreneurship Project will implement the program through the Strengthening Kenya’s Innovation Ecosystem (SKIES).

The government, through SKIES, a subcomponent of the Sh7.5 billion (KIEP) project, seeks to streamline the delivery of professional business development services, thereby enabling innovators of small and medium enterprises to get the proper business training when required.

The absence of a uniform platform to oversee the start-up ecosystem in …

• Eldohub platform Sasakazi is addressing barriers to decent employment, including the availability of skilled employees among the youth.
• Sasakazi is providing support to young tech professionals in acquiring practical work experience. 
• Eldohub Founder Magdalene Chepkemoi says Africa is in dire need of tech talent. An increasing number of firms in Africa are embracing technology to accelerate economic growth.

Kenyan Tech Startup Eldohub has launched a new platform to link Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to young tech professionals as demand for tech talent skyrockets.

The platform dubbed Sasakazi addresses barriers to getting decent jobs. This is by pairing available skilled employees especially among the youth with businesses ready to hire.

Sasakazi offering support to young professionals

The platform occupies a central position between SMEs and tech talent pool. It provides support to young tech professionals in acquiring practical work experience. This way, young professionals are in a position to launching …

Nigeria’s Access Bank and the United States International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) have signed a commitment letter for a $280 million financing to assist in tackling the gap in financing for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).…

Tax relief or a better legal framework for SMEs and start-ups would have been a major milestone for Tanzania’s private sector development agenda, however, the Finance Act does not address the heavy burden that start-ups and SMEs face when doing business in Tanzania and furthermore the proposed allocation of local government to the improvement of local entrepreneurship infrastructure was proposed, it was subsequently removed along with the contribution of local government finances to women entrepreneurs as well.

It would have been an opportunity for the Finance Act to enact amendments to certain Anti-Money Laundering Act and Economic Crimes Act provisions that treat tax offences as economic crimes or money laundering offences that are unbailable offences when they should be treated as tax offences that attract hefty fines and/or penalties.

Other areas that could have been amended are the problematic provisions of the Tax Administration Act including section 52(10) which provides …

• Stanbic Bank has revealed that it has empowered over 45,000 women entrepreneurs in the last three years
• Under its DADA initiative, the bank further revealed it had provided innovative solutions to women amounting to KSh 6.9 billion  ($58.5 million) in lending
• As a way of supporting women growth, the bank has been providing training and capacity building which have so far benefitted more than 17,000 women

Kenyan-based lender Stanbic Bank has revealed that it has empowered over 45,000 women entrepreneurs in the last three years.

The bank further revealed it had provided innovative solutions which have enabled Dada’s access KSh 6.9 billion  ($58.5 million) in lending.

The bank has additionally provided credit guarantee schemes to the tune of over KSh 1 billion ($8.4 million) and over KSh 40 million ($339,587) in grant funds.

Under the credit guarantee scheme, the bank is working with the African Guarantee Fund (AGF) and the …

Many investors are getting more and more cautious about the stability of business environments and the risks that come with them.

Small and Medium enterprises are now poised to play a crucial role in stabilizing and fixing the global economy. SMEs substantially outnumber big shareholding companies and create more job opportunities. They are inherently entrepreneurial, substantially contributing to the shaping of innovation globally.

All the creators and participants of the Annual Investment Meeting agree that SMEs are the centre and the life of emerging and developed economies. Small and Medium Enterprises are also critically important for driving global economic growth and achieving global Sustainable Development Goals.…

• Mastercard is collaborating with Meta to support the digitization and growth of SMEs across the MEA region
• The firm says it will be is organizing a training webinar that will provide SMEs insights from industry experts
• Access to credit, data, training and digital tools are among the key challenges for SMEs, further compounded by infrastructure limitations and power supply interruptions in some MEA markets

Global technology company Mastercard has announced that it is collaborating with Meta to support the digitization and growth of SMEs across the MEA region. 

In a statement, the firm says it will be is organizing a training webinar that will provide SMEs insights from industry experts, and a masterclass on how to manage uncertainty from renowned author and academic Nathan Furr, Associate Professor of Strategy at INSEAD.

The event takes place on Wednesday, 8 December at 13.00 East Africa Time.  

The collaboration comes at a …

• Organic Diaries Limited, Tropical Lush Limited, Meditrust Healthcare Services and Organic Fields are some of the winners of the KSh 33 million grant fund
• The grant funds are being issued under the Accelerate Program which aims to position Kenyan businesses for success while addressing the skills gap in the country 
• So far, the program has managed to reach over 850 small businesses, providing them with both financial and non-financial support

Kenya’s Stanbic Bank has unveiled the 7 recipients of a new KSh 33 million grant fund.

Through its Accelerate Programme, the bank signed Stanbic Foundation and United States African Development Foundation (USADF) to hand over the funding to the businesses.

The Fund’s recipients, who were selected out of over 500 applicants across the country, include Organic Diaries Limited, Tropical Lush Limited and Meditrust Healthcare Services.

Others are Organic Fields, Tarakwo Diaries Company Limited and Tovuti Group who won KSh 5 …

• Kiva will oversee the disbursement of the low-interest loans to help SMEs
• Last week Google announced a plan to invest $1billion over 5 years to support Africa’s digital transformation

Google Kenya has announced a disbursement of $10 million to support the economic recovery of small and medium enterprises across Kenya, South Africa, Ghana, and Nigeria during their virtual Google Kenya event.

A non-profit organisation, Kiva, will oversee the disbursement of the low-interest loans to help the SMEs get through the economic hardship created by COVID-19.

This follows the announcement made at the Google for Africa event last week where CEO of Google and Alphabet, Sundar Pichai, announced the plan to invest $1billion over 5 years to support Africa’s digital transformation.

The investment is expected to focus on enabling fast, affordable internet access for more Africans; building helpful products; supporting entrepreneurship and small business; and helping non-profits to improve lives across …

At the same time, KEPSA said the initiative will provide a unique platform to facilitate U.S. and Kenyan SME partnerships.

It will also help in supporting women and youth to run Kenyan entrepreneurs as well as U.S. women, minority, and diaspora owned businesses, and help SMEs in both countries address the current challenges many faces to access the two markets.

The agreement was signed by CCA President & CEO Florizelle Liser and KEPSA CEO Carole Kariuki and witnessed by President Uhuru Kenyatta in New York, U.S.A.…