The SME Founders Association has organized the first SME & MSME town hall physical forum since the Covid-19 pandemic which destabilizes the global market.
This will be a learning and networking forum that seeks to connect MSMEs to partners that can help them as accelerate their business growth.
“Micro, Small, and Medium-Sized Enterprises (MSME) Day raises awareness about the critical role that various sizes of businesses play in meeting the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals and the impact they have on a global scale. Our networking session is meant to raise awareness of both the challenges as well as the opportunities available for our local enterprises and how they can tap the technological advancement from different players,” says Kyesubire Greigg, President, SFA.
The SFA forum will take place at iHub, Senteu Plaza, and will target 100 SMEs as participants, with opportunities to exhibit innovative solutions for different audiences.
Prior to COVID-19, SFA has held monthly town halls in Nairobi, Mombasa and Nakuru as a platform to engage with SMEs and address real-life challenges, from their perspective and with their experiences to co-create relevant products and programs.
Those existing SME forums are often held without the input of SMEs and do not provide practical information or solutions, yet the business environment is dynamic and requires agility and capacity to change frequently.
In the last two years, SFA Virtual town halls have attracted over 6,000 registrations validating this type of forum and content.
The Town halls bring people from various parts of Kenya and other parts of Africa with engaging content on various topics designed to connect SMEs to money, markets and mentors. Speakers and panellists have come from government bodies, financial institutions, educational institutions, SME experts and Practitioners.
MSMEs globally make up over 90 per cent of all firms and account, on average, for 70 per cent of total employment and 50 per cent of GDP. As such, they are key actors in achieving inclusive sustainable economic growth.
They are responsible for more than two-thirds of all jobs worldwide and account for the majority of new job creation. But despite providing a huge share of global employment, they still face major challenges when it comes to working conditions, productivity and informality.
While they may be small individually, new ILO data show that micro- and small enterprises account for a staggering 70 per cent of employment worldwide.
The Founders Town hall aims to facilitate dialogues between MSMEs and key stakeholders on the latest business developments on policy, innovation, trade & finance opportunities, as well as current affairs that may translate into cost savings, revenue growth, risk mitigation, and collaboration.
It is designed to be an interactive, engaging, and participatory platform, allowing participants to engage, exhibit their products and services, and enquire from business advisors while learning and networking with key stakeholders and peers in the ecosystem.
The objectives of the monthly events are to:
- Amplify the participation of MSMEs in co-creating solutions that are relevant and meaningful for their growth.
- Inspire and inform participants through inclusive dialogue on accessing traditional and alternative capital, new markets, policy, regulation and appropriate networks.
- Enhance engagement between the public and private sectors in Kenya and beyond.
Participants can also register for the SFA town hall event via the below linkhttps://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdCR5HZbQErx2zU1wkTHzOQ7G1mzfmclih2FMl_SMC4uxtJzQ/viewform
