Government is taking steps to ensure that the youths easily access credit and start a business, according to President Uhuru Kenyatta. The President, who was speaking at the launch of Mastercard Foundation’s Youth Africa Works program in Nairobi, said tremendous progress has been made in that area, evidenced by Kenya’s improvement in the World Bank’s ease of doing business improved ranking.
He said barriers including the problem of bureaucracies are being cleaned, “One of the things we are working strongly for is to remove barriers that have resulted in people finding it difficult, for example, to start a company,” he said. He said the launched program will make it easier for the youths to access to credit, adding that another programme, the Stawi program, will make credit more easily and readily available. “We have a program we are working on with other financial institutions called Stawi…with a view of making credit more readily and easily available and to stop the kind of extortion that small businesses have faced when they look for credit.”
The head of state noted that SMEs access to credit is one of the biggest problems in Kenya and that the government has made a significant step in creating an environment for job creation. He further called for a shift in mentality in the country, saying that the notion that big wallets play a bigger role than brains should be discarded. He said a hardworking culture needs to be nurtured and that the youths need to empowered to achieve success, but with a view of patience in mind.
