“Towards Parliamentary Action for Integration of Children and Youth in East African Societies”

The Association of European Parliamentarians with Africa (AWEPA) and the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) hosted the regional MDG Seminar “Towards Parliamentary Action for Integration of Children and Youth in East African Societies” on 27th to 28th April 2012 at the Intercontinental Hotel in Nairobi, Kenya as part of the SIDA-funded MDG Programme. The seminar facilitated an open discussion about the current state of youth related-policies in the region as far as education and employment are concerned One of the major challenges in East Africa today is certainly the role of the youth in fast-changing societies. While forming a majority of the population and increasingly so, the youth are usually feeling marginalized from the decision-making process. They are often neither given the opportunity to directly participate in it nor are they even consulted on matters relating to their everyday life. This constitutes a significance contradiction in terms of representation that EALA intended to address through this Regional MDG Seminar and subsequent decisions and actions The youth are not only passive but also active agents of their current condition, which they could have firmer grip on should an improved social environment offering youth more education and Job opportunities. EALA members can therefore significantly contribute to the integration or reintegration of youth into society ,eventually enabling them to lay a sound basis for their adult life. Against this background, the seminar focused on the contribution of EALA to these two critical challenges for East Africa, Education and Employment, while discussing the establishment of a structured framework for youth consultation and participation. The Seminar was officially opened by the EALA Speaker Hon. A. Abdi after brief remarks from Mr. Zwelethu Lukhanyiso Madasa, Clerk of the Pan-African Parliament-, Hon. Sere Saran Sereme, Deputy Speaker, ECOWAS-, Hon. Holger Gustafsson, Sweden, Political Coordinator and AWEPA Member while Participants included Members of the Pan-African Parliament, ECOWAS, SADC Parliamentary Forum, European MPs, Speakers from UNICEF, ILO and Mr. Richard N. Muteti , Director of the Youth Enterprise Development Fund and Chief Executive of the MSE Sector Federation in Kenya, who gave a presentation on the “Perspectives on Youth Empowerment from the EAC Region and best Practices from Regional Parliamentary Bodies’’

LAUNCH OF THE SMEs PARTNERSHIP CARD FOR SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS

Small and Medium Enterprise Support, East Africa (SMES, East Africa), the producers of the SME Handbook (the first ever catalogue of information, products and services for small business owners in Kenya), has now introduced a Partnership Card.

The SMEs Partnership Card will ensure that its’ holders enjoy subsidized fees on products and services at various service providers outlets. SMES-EA invites organizations to partner towards accessing affordable services and products within Kenya and the East African region by awarding the SMEs Partnership card holders a 15% discount on their products and services.

For more information on the modalities of enrolling into the Partnership Card program, kindly contact the undersigned.


Lydiah Njoroge
Programmes Director
Small and Medium Enterprise Support, East Africa

Lydiah Njoroge
+254-721-235-985
info@smeseastafrica.com

Business Advocacy Fund (BAF) holds a Breakfast media roundtable on business partnership in Kenya

Business Advocacy Fund in conjunction with the African Woman and Child Feature Service and the Kenya Editor’s Guild held a breakfast meeting on Wednesday 14th 2012 at Intercontinental Hotel

The aim of the breakfast was to have a roundtable discussion with the journalists and business writers on the status of business journalism in Kenya and together agree on a set of initiatives which the Business Advocacy Fund might support to enhance business journalism in Kenya and also help the skills of journalists reporting on business environment issues and how they affect overall development and also the realization of Vision 2030.

Launched in 2006, the Business Advocacy Fund is working to enable a wide range of private sector business membership organizations (BMOs), trade unions, civil society organizations (CSOs), non-governmental organizations (NGOs), research organizations and others to engage with the government in processes leading to a sustainable improvement in the business environment in Kenya-- thereby creating jobs and economic growth needed to reduce poverty.

The meeting was addressed by Mr. Richard Muteti, CEO in the MSE Sector in Kenya who is also the Regional Project Manager of the East Africa Jua Kali Exhibitions and a senior representative from KEPSA and Clive Davis- the CEO of Business Advocacy Fund.

IU RCED and EABC holds discussions on the roll-out of the MSME Mentorship Programme in the EAC region

IU Regional Center for Enterprise Development (RCED) holds discussions with the East Africa Business Council and the SMES, East Africa on the regional roll out of the MSME Mentorship Programme. The meeting was held in Arusha on 8th March 2012.
The above discussions were aimed at supporting growth oriented Small Businesses and create more jobs and businesses in the East African region.

The initiative has developed a system of training and qualifying business mentors/ advisors who will provide support to the many firms operating in both the formal and informal economy in the East African Community region (EAC) in order to contribute to more sustainable enterprise development.

The role of the trained business mentors is to generate advice and provide technical support on growth opportunities and of possibilities of financial and other support services on a regular basis to entrepreneurs – and especially young entrepreneurs.

The main Goal of the mentorship programme is to develop a critical mass of Business Mentors contributing to the growth of sustainable Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in the EAC

Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) holds a Special Prime Minister Round Table to look at the State of the Economy

The need for a resilient Kenyan Economy takes priority as KEPSA holds a Special Prime Minister Round Table on the State of the Economy in Nairobi - February 29, 2012

Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) today held a Special Prime Minister Round Table to look at the State of the Economy. The discussions focused on the four thematic areas that have been identified as key factors that affect the Economy:
• Cost of Living
• Employment & Productivity
• Competitiveness and Regional Integration
• Trade and Investment

the Prime Minister assured the Private Sector that the government is equally concerned about the state of the Mombasa Port which affects many aspects of doing business. In addition to the ongoing Rapid Results Initiative, a special team will be dispatched to the Port to ensure that the congestion is cleared and put in place lasting solutions perennial inefficiencies. He was categorical that the government will solve the operational challenges at the Port of Mombasa to justify and give credence to constructing another Port in Lamu.

The various recommendations and commitments arrived at on the various thematic areas will be consolidated and made public in a week’s time.
The Special Prime Minister Round Table had more than 200 participants drawn from the government, the development partners, the diplomatic community and the Private Sector.

MBAO PENSION SCHEME

The Mbao (Kshs 20-a-day) or National Jua Kali Pension scheme which targets jua kali (or informal sector workers) artisans was developed by the National Federation of Kenya Jua Kali Associations and the Retirement Benefits Authority (RBA).

The individual pension plan is registered by both the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) and RBA as Blue MSMEs Jua Kali Individual Retirement Benefit Scheme, which therefore allows it to run retirement plans for individual members.

The Mbao scheme is a voluntary pension savings program aimed to help people save for retirement, with the name ‘Mbao’ derived from the minimum Kshs 20 daily contribution that registered make to offer them a reliable income when they eventually retire from their jobs or businesses.

The common characteristics of the Jua Kali sector are that most are small-scale operations with individual or family ownership; players in the sector have no access to institutional credit facilities or other support and protection mechanisms; experience seasonal incomes and workers are generally not issued with pay slips.

Trade Mark East Africa (TMEA) holds a SME Stake Holders Workshop in Kampala, Uganda.

TradeMark East Africa (TMEA) which is going through the process of identifying opportunities to provide SME support held a one day “SME Stake Holders Workshop” on 30th January 2012 at Hotel Africana in Kampala, Uganda.

The objective of the workshop was to identify solutions to SME challenges that lie within Trademark East Africa's mandate and to identify potential partners for the same .the discussions covered SME constraints (internal and external) that Small Businesses face in the EAC region.

The specific purpose of the workshop was to build TMEA's understanding of support available to SMEs and to identify gaps where TMEA can intervene as well as possible partners.

TMEA is a not for profit organization which promotes regional trade and economic integration in the East African Community by working closely with the East African Community (EAC), institutions, National Governments, Business and the Civil Society Organizations and has presence in the five EAC Partner States

The Workshop was facilitated by DMT Consultants