Kisumu County Government has rolled out a partnership deal with Stanbic Bank Foundation and the German Agency for International Development Cooperation (GIZ) to provide interest-free loans to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the region.
The intervention which targets 130 small enterprises from the Lakeside County seeks to avail affordable financing to enable them to grow their businesses in the wake of economic hardships.
At the same time, the initiative aims to entrench the entrepreneurial culture in SMEs and technical skills to enhance their capacity and expand market opportunities for traders.
Kisumu Deputy Governor Mathew Owili speaking during the beneficiaries’ sensitisation forum on Tuesday hailed the stakeholders and said that the development is aligned to bolster value chains and job creation in the vibrant SME sector.
“The resilience programme, will ensure SMEs remain solvent, retain their employees, and are able to generate innovative work to spur economic growth of Kisumu,” said Dr Owili.
The CEO of Stanbic Foundation, Pauline Mbayah speaking at the same event said the Foundation is committed to enhancing accelerated business recovery and growth of small enterprises in the area.
As a result, said Ms. Mbaya, plans have been initiated to provide the beneficiaries with training on entrepreneurship, access to the market, digital skills and knowledge, as well as train them in financial literacy.
The targeted business groups are market traders, barber shops, shoe shiners, food vendors, hoteliers, hawkers, small-scale vegetable retailers and cereal vendors amongst others.
The event was also attended by the Business and Trade CEC Dickson Obungu, Director of Trade and Enterprise Development Mr Bovince Ochieng’ among other officials from Stanbic Bank and the GIZ.
By Robert Ojwang’
