Information, Communications and The Digital Economy Cabinet Secretary (CS) Eliud Owalo made a strong statement during a sensitization forum for over 500 leaders of registered women groups from Kisumu County.
He urged women entrepreneurs to group themselves and establish cooperatives in order to improve their access to government funding. Owalo emphasized that cooperatives have access to more financial products and services, which are otherwise limited to individuals owning Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).
To advance women’s financial inclusion and economic empowerment, Owalo stated that the government has established substantial funding opportunities for groups at the grassroots level.
However, he stressed that some women and youth who are the key targets are yet to optimally benefit from these opportunities because they are not aware of the existing programs or lack information on how to constitute themselves into viable cooperative societies.
Owalo challenged the small entrepreneurs to fully embrace the financial products and services offered by various state-sponsored fund kitties to benefit from flexible repayment terms and lower interest rates.
The National Government Affirmative Action Fund (NGAAF), Youth Enterprise Development Fund, Women Enterprise Fund, Uwezo Fund, and Hustler Funds are some of the financing kitties sanctioned to groups of youth, women, and people with disabilities.
Owalo underlined that the Kenya Kwanza administration is fully committed to empowering women to engage in sustainable businesses and participate in economic development as outlined in the Bottom-up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA).
BETA envisages involving vulnerable people who are at the bottom of the economic pyramid by providing them with financial aid and entrepreneurship opportunities to make them contribute towards the country’s economic growth.
The CS applauded the remarkable contribution made by women in the business domain, which has been instrumental in driving economic growth and their capacity to contribute towards job creation. He emphasized the need to sensitize them to access more financing to expand their ventures.
Owalo also highlighted that empowering women and youth, fixing the agriculture sector the fishing industry, and ensuring adequate road infrastructure would ensure full exploitation of the region’s potential.
