Towards the end of 2022, USAID’s Kenya Small Business Development Centers Program (Kenya SBDC) sponsored 30 Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to showcase their products and services at the 22nd East African Community (EAC) Trade Fair in Kampala, Uganda. To increase the awareness and capacity of county-based MSMEs to tap export-market opportunities available under US-Kenya trade Programs.
The event provided the entrepreneurs with an excellent avenue to showcase their products and explore regional export markets.
Speaking on her experience at the fair, Juliana, a women-led entrepreneur from Makueni County was elated and noted how important this experience was, both for her and her business. “I am very grateful to the Kenya SBDC Program for supporting me to come and showcase my unique products to the East African Region. So far, I have received orders from various customers, and I am hopeful that I will start exporting my products,’’ Juliana noted.
The Kenya Small Business Development Centers Program aims to empower MSMEs to access local, regional, and international markets. Through collaboration with key stakeholders in the MSMEs ecosystem, the program ensures the targeted MSMEs meet the quality market standards for export markets.
The Program is currently being implemented in six counties: Kiambu, Kisumu, Mombasa, Makueni, Isiolo, and Nakuru, collectively known as prosper counties.
Prosper Counties comprises eight counties selected to participate in a U.S.- Kenya trade agreement seeking to partner with counties and the private sector to advance Kenya’s journey to self-reliance by contributing to job creation, improving economic growth, and expanding tax revenues in Kenya’s secondary cities and rural areas. At the heart of the Program is to increase awareness of the micro, small and medium enterprises to explore export markets, especially the U.S. markets.
Learn more about the Kenya Small Business Development Programme here
By Jane Daniel Mumo
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