The attendance was 100 per cent. All the young entrepreneurs who were invited by KEPSA board gathered at the board room by 10 AM. The staff of KEPSA and Kuza Biashara extended a warm welcome and soon all entrepreneurs were seen acquainting themselves and exchanging business cards.
For Kuza Biashara, it was a good opportunity to interact with the Cycle 1 graduates and learn about their challenges and success stories. It was interesting to note that nearly 90 per cent of their businesses did not have an online presence. So, they were offered the communication solution provided by Kuza in partnership with Safaricom. The SMEs realised that Kuza Biashara’s initiative will help in cutting the communication costs drastically.
Most of the graduates, now start up business owners had awesome stories to tell. They had been recruited and trained by KEPSA under the Kenya Youth Employment Program (KYEP) for three months and had undergone on job training with corporates related to their area of interest/ expertise.
I happened to meet Melvin Sagini, an artist, who started his business after undergoing the training. He is now the owner of Sagini Melvin, through which he sells paintings, drawings, illustrations and printing of T-shirts. Natures inspires his works and stimulates his passion. He has been mentored by the likes of Patrick Mukabi, Ray Charles Mbugua and Dinesh Revauka.
Sagini is extremely positive about the efforts of Kuza Biashara and sees it as a good support system for Kenyan SMEs to help them grow to their full capacity.
