featuring Information, Services and Products for small business owners in Kenya
Monday, 26th October, 2015 at the Laico Regency Hotel, Nairobi -The second edition of the SME Handbook has been launched by Hon. Adan Mohammed, Cabinet Secretary for Industrialization and Enterprise Development. The Handbook is a comprehensive catalogue of information, products and services for small business owners in Kenya aimed at addressing the critical need for information on service providers in the SME sector.
Monday, 26th October, 2015 at the Laico Regency Hotel, Nairobi -The second edition of the SME Handbook has been launched by Hon. Adan Mohammed, Cabinet Secretary for Industrialization and Enterprise Development. The Handbook is a comprehensive catalogue of information, products and services for small business owners in Kenya aimed at addressing the critical need for information on service providers in the SME sector.
The updated second edition reflects the current dynamics of the ever
growing information needs by small business owners (SMEs) in Kenya. The book also gives special attention to
the now devolved services.
“We are excited to launch The
Handbook which comes in to seal the information gap that exists between
opportunities and SMEs. Lack of knowledge on where to access business services
and products by small businesses continues to be a major obstacle to their
development and growth. This is despite the fact that a lot of organizations
have a lot of services for small business people. Scanty information about the market is also hindering SMEs from
taking advantage of emerging opportunities. The second edition of the SME Handbook brings all relevant
information in a single easy to read book,” remarked Richard Muteti, the SME
Handbook Project team leader
At
the function the Cabinet Secretary for Industrialization and
Enterprise Development noted “The Government fully recognises the critical role that the private sector,
development partners, and other stakeholders are playing in ensuring appropriate
products and services are availed to MSMEs. This is why my ministry has
collaborated with the SME Handbook which is in line with the national goal of
developing this sector as the government
continues to support similar initiatives that help in reaching our objectives
for the sector.”
The second edition of the SME Handbook will be distributed through the
National and County Government information centres, various apex Business member
organizations in the Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), Women and
Young Entrepreneurs sector, national and county business information centers
among other outlets.
The first edition of the SME
Handbook was launched in September, 2011 by the then Minister for Trade.
The Handbook received a lot of support from both the public and private sector
and was adopted by the Ministry of Trade and key institutions, as a reference
publication in the Business Information Centers (BICs) situated across the
country
The SME Handbook is a project of Small and Medium Enterprise Support,
East Africa (SMES, EA) through the SME Handbook Secretariat in collaboration
with a technical team of key public and private sector stakeholders.
SMEs, especially those located upcountry; have major problems accessing
business services largely because there is little awareness of what the
market is offering.
SMEs have been cited as one of the key sectors expected to drive
Kenya’s Economic growth. This sector is also expected to provide the bulk
of jobs for youth.
The SME Handbook Project is
headed by Mr. Richard Muteti who is The SME Handbook Project Team Leader and Directed by Ms
Lydiah Njoroge
