The World Bank is providing more than 359 million Kenyan shillings (2.5 million U.S. dollars) to boost small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Kenya.
Sameer Goyal, a senior financial sector specialist at World Bank Kenya said this on Friday at the launch of the Kenya youth entrepreneur project in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya.
Goyal said 50 small enterprises would receive performance-based grant funding averaging 50,000 dollars each.
“We aim to increase innovation and productivity in the private sector so that firms can boost their competitiveness and revenue growth,” he said.
He revealed that Kenya would benefit from increased foreign exchange earnings as some of the firms were already engaged in export trade.
Juma Mukhwana, principal secretary in the State Department for Industry, said in a written speech that the financial assistance would be targeted at SMEs in manufacturing, agriculture, housing, and healthcare as well as the digital superhighway sectors.
He added that the funding would help develop a robust and resilient SME sector that could withstand local and global shocks.
