Small businesses form a critical part of the Kenyan economy. In addition to creation of employment, SMEs play as the feeders to larger industries with raw materials and services while generating significant amounts of taxes for the government. In the last year, SMEs have faced massive challenges that threaten their existence. The passing of the banking amendment act has for instance reduced access to credit. The long electioneering period has on the other hand slow down the productivity and output of local SMEs. Further, a harsh economic environment precipitated by increased borrowing by the national government has trickled down to SMEs affecting their operations.
Noticing this, the Kenya Bankers Association and its partners are launching the Inuka na SME program seeking to build capacity for SMEs. The program seeks to equip SMEs with free training on how to run, grow and scale their businesses. The approach of the program will include training via a web portal and face-to-face learning on different modules such as value chain and operations, financial modeling, human resource and law.
The training will take place through Kenya Institute of Management in collaboration with among others the Kenya Chamber of Commerce, Kenya association of Manufacturers and Micro & Small enterprises Authority. Upon undertaking the training business owners will have the necessary skills on how to run, grow and scale their organizations. The pilot to gauge the effectiveness of the modules offered has already taken place with the launch expected in the first week of March 2018.
Upon launch, the face-to-face training will take place initially in Nairobi then Nakuru and to other parts of the country. Interested business owners can sign up for the curriculum on the Inuka na SME portal which is to be launched soon as well as plan for the training sessions in Nairobi via this link.
Businesses will further be required to create a business profile within the training module portal and this will be used to gauge their financing needs. They will then receive expert advise on how best to navigate issues relating to their financing. One of the most critical aspects of the capacity building program is the advisory aspect which allows businesses owners to receive advise on various aspects of the business operation and then execute these same aspects into their businesses.