Competitive SMEs key to AfCTA trade

Small and medium enterprises should be made more competitive for Kenya to start benefiting from the Sh250 trillion African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

This was one of the key messages during the third edition of the Nation Media Group SME Expo at Kenyatta International Convention Centre, held jointly with the Ministry of Industrialisation Trade and Enterprise Development, Micro and Small Enterprise Authority and the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The three-day event, which began on Thursday and will run up to March 26, featured exhibitors, policymakers, parastatal heads, business leaders, entrepreneurs, innovators and researchers, among others.

Industrialisation Chief Administrative Secretary David Osiany said while the level of skill among Kenya’s entrepreneurs cannot be questioned, a lack of standards and consistency in their products has hindered them from accessing larger markets.

“Some doors made in Lamu cost up to Sh1 million in Nairobi. So the talent we have is extreme, but we are not competitive in our standards. And until we fix this, we will just be hearing about markets such as AfCFTA, reading about them in papers and wondering why we are not benefiting from them,” he said.

Mr Osiany said the government would address the high costs of hyper-regulation hindering business growth.

Close to 80 percent of SMEs in Kenya are unlicensed with the main hindrance being the high cost of compliance.

“We need to address the competitiveness of SMEs. Unlicensed and unregistered businesses cannot access credit facilities, investment or service bulk orders and this cripples their business,” said Mr Osiany, who commended NMG for initiatives it has undertaken to support the SME sector, including the annual expo.

The first such expo was held in 2020 and attracted 6,000 participants and 91 exhibitors. The second, at the peak of Covid-19, attracted 10,000 participants and 120 exhibitors.

“It is not every day that we afford to give hours on end to the SMEs to showcase what they are doing and speak to the nation. The government is delighted to be associated with the Nation Media Group for one reason, that they have taken up the SME burden as one of their primary burdens,” said Mr Osiany.

NMG  #ticker:NMG Chief Executive Stephen Gitagama urged consumers to support local entrepreneurs and buy locally made goods.

“Most of us have a different attitude when we are shopping in the supermarket from when we are shopping from other markets like Gikomba.

“When you buy a sofa in the supermarket, for instance, you pay upfront without bargaining, but in the streets, you bargain even when at times the quality in the streets is better and so is the price,” he said.