500 SME’s Targeted in Massive Mentorship Programme

By Eric Akasa

The Regional Centre for Enterprise Development (RCED) has launched a massive business mentorship campaign targeting 500 enterprises in Kenya by the end of this year. The drive will be done in partnership with the International Labor Organization’s-Youth Enterprise Facility (ILO-YEF) and the Professional Business Mentors Association.

Speaking during second graduation of business mentorsThursday, Prof Henry Thairu, the Vice Chancellor of Inoorero University, which runs RCED, said the mentorship training would boost enterprise development by nurturing growth-oriented startups as well as supporting the existing into sustainable businesses.  “We are also almost concluding plans to launch a practical entrepreneurship training programme for youths in tertiary education that will be modular based and hands on,” Thairu remarks.

He said mentorship provides critical business skills and practical solutions to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). “This will help nurture enterprises into steady and sustainable ventures with significant returns to the economy

Thirty-three business mentors graduated during the event, bringing to 58 the number of graduates from the programme. So far, more than 70 mentee enterprises have been supported by RCED-trained business mentors. The business mentorship course is a first in East and Central Africa and seeks to professionalize the industry with standards, ethics and guidelines.

RCED coordinator Daniel Huba said the role of the trained business mentors is to generate advice and provide technical support on growth opportunities and possibilities of financial and other support services to young entrepreneurs.  “We believe that business mentorship is the last pillar of business development service provision to MSMEs,” he said. “It is the glue to the interventions such as access to finance; market linkages; business skills development and legal framework development.

He said the centre has developed five mentee case studies showing positive changes that have resulted from this intervention. RCED is also supported by Royal Danish Embassy in the implementation of the mentorship programme.

RCED said it supports the Micro and Small Enterprises (MSE) Bill 2011 being fronted by Mr F.T. Nyammo, the MP for Tetu constituency. “It is now generally accepted among many economies, that Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) are a key source of productivity, growth and job creation. This is not different in the Kenyan context. 

“It is with the realization of the critical role played by this sector that has seen the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) and Inoorero University liaise to support enactment of the MSE BILL 2011,” notes Tetu MP, who is also the chancellor of Inoorero University.

RCED is currently partnering with other industry players such as the East Africa Business Council (EABC) and Trade Mark East Africa (TMEA) to roll out the mentorship programme to the other East African States. The Federation of Women Entrepreneur Associations (FEWA) to offer county-based business mentorship programmes for women entrepreneurs and with the Youth Enterprise Development Fund to provide customized business mentorship programmes for the youth entrepreneurs.