Kenya’s MSMEs eye regional growth with EAC market entry
About 483 owners of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Kenya are set to benefit from access to the East African Community (EAC) market offering them an opportunity to accelerate their growth regionally.
According to the Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Cooperatives Wycliffe Oparanya, this initiative is part of enhancing intra-EAC trade among players in member countries.
Mr. Oparanya added that the move will help hundreds of small-scale traders to understand the emerging market dynamics and business practices to facilitate business linkages for increased trade. He was speaking during the bloc’s MSMEs Trade Fair on Wednesday.
The businesses also stand to not only boost their share in the multi-billion markets, but also cement their presence in the regional bloc, which now includes Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, DRC, South Sudan, and Somalia.
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”The EAC’s expanded market size (312 million people) and GDP (approximately $305 billion) as a result of the recent entry of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Somalia into the community adds significant impetus to the push to increase Intra-EAC trade, especially given that the EAC region now stretches from the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean, making it competitive and easy to access the larger African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA),” a statement from Oparanya’s ministry read in part.
He noted that the opportunity will enable Kenyan companies to come up with new technologies in the design of products and also give traders an avenue to access quality products from the other states in the market.
”It will not only avail a forum for showcasing what Kenya has to offer to the regional market but also play a leading role in facilitating trade and business exchanges among participating countries while at the same time offering an exciting platform for launching new and improved technologies targeting both the local and regional markets,’’ Oparanya explained.
