CS Owalo urges women-led SMEs to form cooperatives

Kisumu,

Sunday October 15, 2023

KNA by Robert Ojwang’/ Joseph Ouma

Information, Communications and The Digital Economy Cabinet Secretary (CS) Eliud Owalo has urged women involved in business to group themselves and establish cooperatives to improve their chances of accessing government funding.Owalo who spoke during a sensitization forum for over 500 leaders of registered women groups from Kisumu County observed that cooperatives have access to more financial products and services, which are otherwise limited to individual owners of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

“It is hard making progress in doing business or seeking financial assistance when pursuing it as an individual. You need to join groups and form cooperatives to enable you to qualify for substantial amounts that are only offered to registered groups,” he noted.

To advance women's financial inclusion and economic empowerment, the CS said, the government has established substantial funding opportunities meant for the groups at the grassroots level.

However, women and youth who are the key targets are yet to optimally benefit from these opportunities because some 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.

 “Currently, banks offer loans at 16 percent interest, while the Hustler Fund lends at 8 percent. Let’s not fear taking loans to advance our development projects,” Owalo advised.

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 stressed that the Kenya Kwanza administration is committed to empowering the women folk to engage in sustainable businesses and participate in economic development as outlined in the Bottom-up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA).

BETA, he added, envisages involving the vulnerable people who are at the bottom of the economic pyramid by way of providing them with financial aid and entrepreneurship opportunities to make them contribute towards the country's economic growth.

“We have sensitized women on the overall economic agenda including fishing, agribusiness, trade, and the digital economy that the government has for the Nyanza region and how they can be incorporated in improving the economy,” stated the CS.

He applauded the remarkable contribution made by women, especially in the business domain that has been instrumental in driving economic growth and their capacity to contribute towards job creation, creating the need to sensitize them to access more financing to expand their ventures.

Further, the CS underlined that empowering women, youth, fixing the agriculture sector, the fishing industry and ensuring adequate road infrastructure would ensure full exploitation of the region's potential.

Courtesy; KNA