Interim UN Resident Coordinator Shaheen Nilofer said that MSMEs are important as they employ millions of Kenyans.

“We endeavor to build the capacity of MSMEs in the country locally closely in line with the government’s development agenda in Kenya,” Nilofer said at the Micro Small Enterprise Authority (MSEA) and UNOPS possibilities (UP) forum.

“We use this forum to meet development partners to discuss on how we can use sustainable development to achieve certain objectives for MSMEs.”

The event, which brought together key stakeholders in the MSME sector, decried the skewed tendering process that locks out small businesses due to a number of bureaucracies

Principal Secretary for the State Department of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises, Susan Mangeni, who officiated the event, reiterated the government’s commitment to reform the procurement sector and support MSME’s in their endeavor to get deals both in government and in agencies such as the UN.

She observed that the sector is a critical contributor to broader socio-economic objectives, including the creation of employment, although it is often sidelined in lucrative tenders.

“Despite the importance of the sector to the economy, MSMEs face a number of challenges in regard to market access both at domestic level and international market,” said Mangeni.

She decried the stiff competition MSMEs face in the country on account of fairly cheap imports compared to the ones produced by MSMEs.

She further called on Kenya’s international partners to open up their markets for Kenyan MSMEs in a bid to bolster their growth.