Plan to support women SMES venture into manufacturing
Lack of finance, appropriate business development services and absence of specialised professional and technical support have cited as some of the major challenges afflicting women SMEs in manufacturing.
Access to finance particularly remains the major cause of limited participation of women in industry, particularly the absence of innovative financial products for funding women start-ups in non-traditional manufacturing.
The Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) says the business development services inefficiency leads to inappropriate mechanisms for assisting women entrepreneurs to adopt appropriate technology and innovation, which is necessary for enhancing production
Besides, the absence of specialised professional and technical support to women-owned manufacturing enterprises and inappropriate programmes for training women entrepreneurs deter consistent and sustainable growth.
KAM has been collecting data on women employment statistics in corporate firms to enable them lobby for more women hiring and affirmative steps.
