Letters

LETTERS: State should link new fund to Big Four agenda

uhuru

President Uhuru Kenyatta. FILE PHOTO | NMG

The government’s move to merge the three funds created to empower women and youth in entrepreneurship is very crucial. It should now be integrated to the Big Four agenda that are guiding President Uhuru Kenyatta’s economic growth in his legacy term.

In his recent Budget speech, Treasury secretary Henry Rotich announced that the Cabinet has approved Biashara Kenya Fund that has merged Uwezo Fund, Youth Enterprise Development Fund and Women Enterprise Development Fund.

The three funds were created for almost similar objectives but they have not had the intended impacts due to lack of proper coordination and integration with the other government programmes meant to empower the targeted beneficiaries.

With a 5.7 deficit to be filled by the debt, the government must create supportive infrastructure to ensure that the new initiative succeeds in bringing more young people into tax bracket.

With estimates tabled in the parliament in this year’s budget speech showing that the national government will spend Sh460 billion in the 2018/2019 to finance the Big Four agenda, those supplying the government goods and services are expected to reap huge benefits.

With over 80 per cent of the population under the age of 35 years being the youth, there is need to take deliberate affirmative measures to ensure that business related to the youth will benefit from the Big Four.

With their creativity and productive capacity, they will meaningfully participate in the economy.

Also, the government is expected to engage international firms for some of the projects it has lined up in the Big Four agenda.

In recent years, the government has engaged international firms to undertake huge infrastructural projects and it would be important to require them to contract youth related business for a certain percentage of their engagement with Kenyan firms.

The government already has an existing directive that requires all its agencies to procure from youth related businesses. However, this initiative has not brought the desired results since it was not based on the reality on the ground.

Most of the businesses run by the youth suffer from lack of sufficient financial capacity. Too, many do not own assets that can serve as collateral to secure loans for business since financial institution profile them as high risk borrowers.

As a result, the so called “tenderpreneurs” with vast experience of selling goods and services to the government are fronting companies registered by the youth and transact the business leaving owners of the business as a conveyer belt of cash for a small kickback.

READ: Uhuru pledges support for firms backing Big Four plan

The new merged fund should cure this. It would be of significant importance if the government is able to have more entrepreneurs doing business with it since this will spur growth and tax collection.

This will also minimize the risk and help the fund create more capital for onward lending.

The government is considered as a reliable buyer. Another crucial aspect is the provision of quality and relevant education and training to equip Kenyans with skills necessary for industrialization.

The government must focus on improving and expanding Technical and Vocational Education and Training institutes to achieve this objective.

The government must also be applauded for allocating Sh16 billion for technical institutions, for recruitment of additional 2,000 technical training instructors, capitation grants, 15 new technical training institutes, curriculum development assessment and certification centre and Technical Vocational Training Authority.

Peter Omwenga, Advocate of the High Court.