The Kenya Development Corporation (KDC) has launched a plan to engage SMEs countrywide with the aim of sensitizing them on KDC’s products as well as understanding their financial needs.
In line with this, KDC has set aside Kes 18.5 million to be used for this engagement that will also include; supporting research activities, information dissemination and the funding of innovation programmes for SMEs.
The initiative was launched at an investor breakfast forum hosted by KDC in partnership with Kenya National Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KNCCI) in Mombasa County. Speaking at the forum, Mombasa County KNCCI Director, Godffrey Samora noted that the engagement will empower SMEs and allow them to participate more productively in the economy as well as understand their pain points. We also look forward to more partnerships with finance institutions such as KDC in order to further enhance service delivery in the county, said Director Samora.
KDC will also work closely with the County Government of Mombasa and investors in this region to undertake research with a view to obtaining information and insights that support the decisions of the corporation, support national economic policy formulation and spearhead innovation.
KDC Deputy Director Strategy, Planning & Performance Management, Dominic Ndewa said “We want to better understand the financial needs of SMEs and support them as they pursue their aspirations. We are also in the process of developing a socio-economic impact framework to enable KDC measure the impact of her investments. For this reason, we are obtaining critical economic data that can help us develop an appropriate model. Mombasa County is our first stop and we aim to host similar engagements across other counties”.
Market needs analysis research will provide information and insights that enable KDC to develop market driven products, support policy formulation and innovation.
