East Africa leads in trade environment
What you need to know:
- African Guarantee Fund (AGF), which assists small firms gain access to funding and develop capacity, said the region had made it possible for budding businesses to thrive.
- AGF Chief Executive Felix Bikpo said the trend put East Africa in high potential for economic growth, considering that SMEs are key drivers to the modern economy in the world.
- The Young Entrepreneurship Award went to Village Group Ltd from Rwanda, while the Regional Development Award was won by Tabaki Freight Services International from Kenya.
Countries in East Africa have the best environment for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) compared to other parts of the continent, an organisation has said.
African Guarantee Fund (AGF), which assists small firms gain access to funding and develop capacity, said the region had made it possible for budding businesses to thrive.
AGF Chief Executive Felix Bikpo said the trend put East Africa in high potential for economic growth, considering that SMEs are key drivers to the modern economy in the world.
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“We have launched an award that recognises the best SMEs in the entire continent and out of the 121 entries we had, all the three winners with quality and thriving SMEs came from this region. If you look at Rwanda where the overall winner comes from, you will understand that ease of doing business and growth of better business environment rests in this part of the continent,” said Mr Bikpo.
The first edition of the awards was held in Dakar, Senegal, last year, with the next set to take place in Kenya. Three winners were awarded on Friday at a ceremony held at a Nairobi hotel.
The Young Entrepreneurship Award went to Village Group Ltd from Rwanda, while the Regional Development Award was won by Tabaki Freight Services International from Kenya.
Sosoma Industries from Rwanda scooped the best SME of the year award that came with a token of Sh4.5 million over and above the trophy.
Winners will also benefit from free auditing and strategy formulations through AGF partners. This year’s call for entries has already been made and SMEs with $250,000 annual turn over and minimum of 10 full-time employees are eligible.
AGF estimates that 80 per cent of Africa’s private firms are SMEs which contribute over 50 per cent of jobs in sub-Saharan Africa.
The businesses are grappling with very low levels of financing from mainstream banks, poor access to the market and infrastructure compared to other developing countries.
AGF was launched in 2012 in Tanzania with the aim of using a combination of its guarantee and capacity development facilities to enable partner financial institutions scale up their SME financing business.
