Editor's Review

The government will roll out a new funding programme next month aimed at supporting thousands of micro and small enterprises across the country.

The government will roll out a new funding programme next month aimed at supporting thousands of micro and small enterprises across the country to acquire equipment for value addition and small-scale manufacturing.

In a statement on Wednesday, September 9, Deputy President Kithure Kindiki said the Kenya Jobs for Economic Transformation (KJET) programme will target entrepreneurs at the grassroots level.

"The government will roll out the Kenya Jobs for Economic Transformation (KJET) programme effective next month to support thousands of micro and small business enterprises across the country to acquire common user equipment for value addition and small scale manufacturing at the local level," he wrote.

Kindiki said beneficiary enterprises will be selected equitably across the country, with common user equipment provided to support value addition and small-scale manufacturing within local communities.

"Clusters of micro and small enterprises selected equitably from every county, constituency and ward levels will be assisted with common user equipment, to add value to dairy, coffee, tea, leather, artisanal mining, blue economy, edible oils and leather enterprises," he added.

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Kindiki said the government will provide the support through matching grants, with beneficiaries receiving non-repayable funding equivalent to half the cost of the equipment.

"This support will be in the form of matching grants of non-repayable 50% cost of the equipment to be disbursed in three cohorts in October, November and January," he further said.

File image of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Principal Secretary Susan Mang'eni

Kindiki said KJET will, like the ongoing NYOTA Project, prioritise rural entrepreneurs who have historically faced challenges accessing government support because of the informal and small-scale nature of their businesses.

"Just like the ongoing NYOTA Project, KJET will target rural entrepreneurs who in the past have been underserved due to the informal nature and small scale of their enterprises," he noted.

Elsewhere, this comes weeks after the Micro and Small Enterprises Authority (MSEA) warned business owners and entrepreneurs about a fraudulent message circulating on WhatsApp that falsely claims the government is offering free business-name registration to 250,000 micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

In an update on Thursday, August 20, the authority said the message purports to be part of a partnership between the Business Registration Service (BRS) and MSEA. 

However, MSEA has disowned the offer, warning that the link attached to the message could be designed to steal users’ personal information or money.

MSEA said it is not participating in the purported free registration exercise and has not authorised the message or offer.

"This is not from MSEA. MSEA is not participating in this offer and has not authorized it," the authority warned.

Business owners were urged not to click on the link contained in the message, particularly because doing so could expose their personal and financial information to fraudsters.

"Do not click the link - it may steal your personal data or money," MSEA said.

The authority further cautioned members of the public against submitting sensitive information through the suspicious page, including identification details, tax information, telephone numbers and mobile money details.

"Do not share your ID, KRA PIN, phone number, M-PESA or business details on that page," the warning stated.

MSEA also urged recipients of the message not to help spread the scam by forwarding it to other business owners. Instead, those who receive it should report it.

"Do not forward the message. Report it," MSEA advised.

The authority clarified that its official registration process for micro and small enterprises is being conducted through the e-Citizen platform. 

It urged business owners to rely only on the official channel and disregard links, portals or individuals claiming to offer the registration through other platforms.

"The only official MSE registration MSEA is conducting is on e-Citizen: msea.ecitizen.go.ke. Ignore any other link, portal or agent.

"MSEA will not be liable for any loss suffered by persons who respond to such unauthorized offers," the authority stated.