Strengthening Strategic Partnerships to Bridge Kenya's MSME Financing Gap and Advance Sustainable Enterprise Development

The MSME sector's financing gap in emerging markets is USD 8 trillion, limiting access to working capital and Trade Financing. In Kenya, we face a USD 20 billion gap. 

Yesterday, on the sidelines of the United Nations High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Principal Secretary MSMEs Development held talks with Mr. Karen Vardanyan, Director and Chief Financial Officer at the United Nations Capital Development Fund. The discussion explored opportunities for partnerships and collaboration on their existing credit guarantee and funding instruments to de-risk our MSMEs across both the Hustler Fund and NYOTA entrepreneurship pipelines.

The two initiatives continue to deepen financial inclusion in Kenya. The government is now focusing on scaling and sustainability, which will require private-sector capital. We agreed to co-create de-risking instruments to support early-stage businesses and build their capacity to become lending- and investment-ready.

PS MSMEs Ms Susan Mang’eni was accompanied by the Chair of the Kenya Vision 2030 Board, Dr. Emmanuel Kombe Nzai, and the Secretary of Economic, Mr. Festus Wangwe, from the State Department of Economic Planning.