The Mastercard Foundation has announced a series of key partnerships that will bring relief to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Kenya.
The organisations that will start rolling out the interventions, through support from the Mastercard Foundation Covid-19 Recovery and Resilience Programme, include Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA), WomenWork Network, Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KNCCI), and TechnoServe, with technical support from the Grassroots Business Fund and 4G Capital.
Development Diaries gathered that the commitment from the Mastercard Foundation to the four lead partner organisations totals USD15 million and will support a series of interventions that will facilitate business continuity, especially for those MSMEs led and owned by young women.
It was noted that the KEPSA, in close collaboration with the government of Kenya, will target 400 MSMEs to access an emergency finance facility that will be managed by Grassroots Business Fund as the independent fund manager.
The partnership will include the rollout of a virtual MSMEs business recovery hub to provide business development service as well as increasing KEPSAs ability to support women businesses.
The KNCCI will run interventions that include low-cost business loans to deserving MSMEs and a trade digital platform to support an e-commerce ecosystem to make the enterprises more agile and resilient. The intervention will target 15,000 direct members of KNCCI, supplemented by 85,000 KNCCI association members, especially focusing on the hawkers, the fashion industry, Jua Kali, retailers, and restaurants.
The partnership with WomenWork Network will focus on low-cost loans to women-led MSMEs to enable the businesses to withstand the significant revenue drops they are experiencing. The low-cost emergency loans will enable them to sustain jobs that may otherwise have been lost and access tailored online business training.
The Grassroots Business Fund will manage the facility that will provide concessionary loans to members of the KNCCI, KEPSA, and WomenWorks. The loans will boost the microenterprises by providing them with working capital that allows them to navigate challenges brought on by the Covid-19 health crisis.
Regional Head, Eastern and Southern Africa at the Mastercard Foundation, Daniel Hailu, said, ‘MSMEs are the backbone of the economy and they need support more than ever. The Mastercard Foundation is proud to work with these partners to deliver tailored support to tens of thousands of MSMEs with the aim of helping them sustain their activities and continue to provide opportunities for dignified work’.
Source: Mastercard Foundation
Photo source: Overseas Development Institute
