TOPIC: WEF’S CONTRIBUTION TO THE GROWTH OF MSME SECTOR IN KENYA

WEF is an Affirmative Action Fund targeting women who have for a long time suffered historical marginalization, inhibiting their participation in the formal financial sector, yet they form a big percentage of the Kenya population. In recognition of the important role women play in the informal sector and to address financial exclusion, the government established the Fund to support women-oriented micro, small and medium enterprises.

MSMEs play a pivotal role in Kenya’s economy as they contribute over 90% of the total labor force and are key for GDP growth. From latest statistics, women own 48% of MSMES in Kenya. However, they face difficulties in accessing affordable, accessible, and timely credit and most of them are unable to translate into large enterprises due to lack of acceptable standard and quality control.

The current Kenya Kwanza Administration intends to support the MSME sector by enhancing access to credit and is passionate about supporting the informal businesses to become big enterprises. It is anticipated that the MSME sector will contribute 50% of gross domestic product in the next three years.

The Fund is strategically positioned to realize the aspirations of the Government in supporting the growth of the MSME sector for greater economic development of the Nation. The mandates for WEF provide the interventions necessary for entrepreneurship development and sustainability, through: -

1. Providing accessible and affordable loans (no collateral requirement).

2. Offering capacity building programs for business sustainability.

3. Marketing of goods and products produced by women on various platforms for business growth

4. Providing linkages with bigger organizations for mentorship and learning quality standards

5. Developing markets for women businesses to facilitate business stability.

The Fund is desirous about supporting the growth of women businesses majority of whom are in the informal space, to become bigger enterprises through such programs as:-

1. LPO financing to support the AGPO

2. Value addition and incubation programs

3. Quality assurance through partnerships with KEBs

4. Mentorship programs

5. Capacity Building and trainings

6. Marketing of goods and services online

7. Support for Sacco formation

Vision

A sustainable Fund empowering Kenyan Women for Social Economic Development.

Mission

To offer accessible and affordable financial and innovative business support services to Kenyan women for transformed livelihoods through resources mobilization, collaborations, and partnerships.

My Board looks forward to innovative solutions from staff and management, for the realization of this Government’s ambitious agenda for Kenya’s economic growth through entrepreneurship development. The Fund hopes to deepen women’s access to finance and business growth through strengthening the already existing interventions such as offering multiple loan products, supporting the growth of women businesses through capacity building, mentorship, and facilitating value addition at a much higher scale. As part of our Mission, we intend to seek out partnerships and collaborations with like-minded institutions to hasten realization of our Vision. Resource mobilization is also key to facilitate realization of this ambitious targets. These strategies will be entrenched in the WEF strategic plan to provide much needed focus.

This calls for committed, innovative and energetic team to make this dream a reality. Congratulations for emerging the best person for this noble task, and my Board pledges her full support.

God bless you!