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.

KAM chief executive Phyllis Wakiaga said the two -year study being conducted by the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) will inform future engagements between KAM and individual firms as well as policymakers.

The study follows deliberations under the Women in Manufacturing (WIM) programme that advocates for enactment of women-friendly policies within local companies.

“The KAM WIM study seeks to inform the advocacy strategy to mainstream equality and inclusion in the manufacturing sector. It will bring viable solutions to the challenges facing women in manufacturing while inspiring more women to venture into manufacturing,” she said.

KAM, noted Ms Wakiaga, formed the Women in Manufacturing Programme(WIM) in 2017 to drive the conversation that recognises women SMEs as crucial players in industry where they offer networking platforms as well as train them on financial management.

WIM Programmes facilitates meet-ups for women where they deliberate on issues that affect their growth and formulates action plans to mitigate the challenges.

“As an Association, we engage government and relevant stakeholders using fact-based policy advocacy to push for a nurturing environment for businesses. Unfortunately, when it came to women, we found that the data was lacking and that precipitated commissioning of a study expected to be ready by April,” she said.

Noting that the report is currently under review ahead of its formal release this April, the CEO said KAM is encouraging established corporate companies to partner with women-led SMEs thereby creating more job opportunities for women.

Ms Wakiaga said the recognition will not only sustain the women SMEs but will enable them to expand their operations especially in the production and supply of industrial input subsectors.

“There are not enough incentives to enable business to Business (B2B) production and supply of industrial inputs along the supply chain by women entrepreneurs,” she said, adding that the WIM programme is also engaged in helping women-led SMEs to create management structures and enhance book-keeping.