NMG signs pact with Invest In Africa to boost small firms
The Nation Media Group has signed an agreement with the Invest In Africa (IIA) initiative aimed at linking small and medium-sized firms to IIA’s digital portal which uploads tenders by big multinational companies.
The IIA initiative, which was launched in Kenya two weeks ago, has so far signed up a number of big businesses which will post their tenders on the online portal. The initiative will also provide training for SMEs in partnership with the Strathmore Business School.
NMG’s partnership is intended to help create awareness of the new initiative for SMEs signed onto the IIA portal, similar to what the media group does with the Top 100 annual SMEs survey. “We are pleased to partner with Invest In Africa to add value to the current Top 100 SMEs.
Through this partnership we aim to equip these companies with skills that will guarantee their growth and move them on to the next level to create opportunity for others — to join the Club 101 and achieve their potential,” said NMG chief executive officer Joe Muganda.
The Top 100 survey, which is run by Nation Media Group’s Business Daily newspaper and audit firm KPMG, is open to small and medium-sized enterprises with an annual turnover of between Sh70 million and Sh1 billion.
Participating firms are required to submit at least three years of audited financial statements in order to determine their pace of growth and cash flow stability.
IIA Kenya country director Patricia Ithau said that the SMEs qualifying for recruitment to its database will also need to show similarly high standards of management and financial discipline in order to sustain any business they get with the big firms.
“In the beginning, as an SME, you have to prove that you are registered, that you are tax compliant and file your returns, you do credit referencing, and that the listed directors and address are the actual ones for the business. These are the things that any multinational you are looking to do business with will expect you to have,” said Ms Ithau.
IIA is seeking to recruit 1,000 SMEs and 20 big business partners to its initiative by the end of this year.
In addition to NMG, it is already partnering with Tullow Oil, Equity Bank, Kenya Association of Manufacturers and Ecobank.
Its similar initiative in Ghana has already attracted 1,300 SMEs and 20 big partners, with nearly $600 million in tenders transacted on its portal.
