Plans are underway to expand eight Jua kali training facilities throughout the country into centres of excellence in the Micro and Small Enterprises (MSE) sector.
The National Jua Kali Demonstration and Training Centre at Kariobangi has been identified as the first beneficiary of the expansion plans. A survey is being carried to identify other centres in other provinces, but the Ministry of Labour proposes that it will be essential to have such a centre in every county.
Speaking while on inspection of the Kariobangi centre, the Permanent secretary in the Ministry of Labour, Beatrice Kituyi, said that this was part of the government’s initiative to empower Micro and small enterprises in line with Vision 2030.
The Ministry of Public Works estimates that the upgrading of the Kariobangi centre will cost Sh136 million. Once completed, it is expected to be a one-stop-shop where users can access all services, information, reports, key performance indicators, scorecards and other metrics essential for their business requirements.
The permanent secretary assured industry stakeholders that the issue of grabbing Jua kali work sites is being addressed soon and that her ministry was working in conjunction with that of lands to provide them with valid title deeds. The PS said that the government is carrying out an audit of the over 400 Jua kali worksites to determine how they can be improved for the benefit of entrepreneurs in the sector.
Currently, the Kariobangi Jua Kali Demonstration and Training centre offers only metal work courses but through the expansion, it’s expected to cover more sub-sectors. Micro and Small Enterprises dominate the informal economy in Kenya. Enterprises in this sector include agri-processing, building, electrical, woodwork, metal work, leatherwork, textile, chemical, handicraft, service industry, trade and motor vehicles.
According to Winnie Mitullah of the University of Nairobi’s Institute for Development Studies, the use of outdated and retrogressive legal provisions is cumbersome and hostile to the growth of the MSE sector. Ms Mitullah believes that most attempts at addressing the sector have tended to push the sector towards the formal sector, and thereby failing to recognize the fact that those operating within the sector have their own dynamics that require policy, legal, infrastructure and service support.
Experts argue that the MSE sector operates in an unfavorable policy environment and an inhibitive legal and regulatory framework characterized by limited access to markets, financial services, information, infrastructure and linkages with larger enterprises. They are also said to experience inadequate access to business skills and technology, gender inequality; unfavourable taxation regime, entry barriers and health and safety hazards.
It is therefore against this backdrop that the Kenya National Alliance of Street Vendors and Informal Traders, with a membership of more than 400,000 traders, has been pushing for the first-tracking of the Micro and small Enterprises Bill. The Bill, awaiting cabinet approval, addresses issues of introduction of an MSE registry, coordination, funding, technology, market access and capacity building. The Bill also proposes to establish a special tribunal for dispute resolution within the sector.
No comments:
Post a Comment