The Kenyan European Union’s subsidiary announced that they are working on launching a program called Invest in Young businesses in Africa (IYBA). The program will focus on offering support for businesses and start-ups owned by women and youth in Kenya.
According to the European Union, the program will prioritize businesses within the field of science, technology, innovation, and Digital. They will also focus on Businesses that promote the global goal of minimizing carbon emissions.
“To support the early stages of business in Kenya for women and young people, the EU will be launching the Investing Young Businesses in Africa initiative (IYBA) that supports new businesses,” Read the statement from EU in Kenya.
Subscribe to Switch TV for more content.
The support of the European Union will be aimed at increasing the quantity and quality of public and private investments in Medium Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) during their early stages.
“The specific objective is to support and develop the new and early-stage business ecosystem actors as well as increase the quantity and the quality of financial instruments and technical assistance for these enterprises,” The EU stated.
The support will also focus on increasing the number of newly created MSMEs and assisting in the growth and development of early-stage companies in African partner countries.
The European Union made the program in the hopes of creating decent job opportunities across the African continent and empowering women and youths across Africa.
According to the information provided on the IYBA website, the funds will be in different categories with different amounts of funding.
The first category will centre on pre-seed financing and technical assistance which will be focusing on increasing financial and Technical support for pre-seed stage MSMEs with financial needs. The financial support offered was up to Ksh26 million.
Also, building block two of the project will focus on early-stage financing by assisting them in improving access to funding for SMEs at seed and early stages, with financial needs ranging between Ksh26 million and Ksh668 million.
Read Also: National Bank of Kenya Appoints George Odhiambo as Managing Director
