Entrepreneurship for Impact Foundation (E4Impact Foundation) entered into a partnership with Invest in Africa (IIA) to accelerate the development and resilience of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Kenya.
“At E4Impact – we train impact entrepreneurs who support the transformation of their communities and the African economy by large. The collaboration with Invest in Africa amidst this #covid19 pandemic will provide more economic opportunities, access to entrepreneurship training and mentorship as well as provision to African markets where both E4Impact and Invest in Africa is present.” – Prof. Mario Molteni – CEO, E4Impact Foundation mentioned during the virtual and physical MOU signing ceremony that took place on 2nd October 2020, at IIA-Kenya Bush house offices.
Wangechi Muriuki, the Country Director Invest in Africa-Kenya, said that the partnership aims at supporting the growth of SMEs by implementing targeted capacity building programs to address current skills gaps to increase their chances of business resilience and growth.
According to Wangechi, the two organizations will leverage IIA’s technological resource, Biashara.Now to reach SME across sectors with the aim of enhancing their capacity for resilience and scale their growth. As such, this partnership marks a new horizon in supporting SMEs at a time when they have taken a hard hit from the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics estimates that 75% of SMEs die within the first 3 years of inception and this has been heightened by the 
occasion of covid-19. By accessing the targeted skills development programs, the SMEs will be able to acquire additional capacity to fast track the changing business environment and manage potential risks that can lead to downfall.
In line with IIA’s goal to support African SMEs to win $1bn worth of contracts and create 250,000 jobs by 2025, the strategic partnership with E4Impact Foundation will strengthen the efforts to address the business capacity constraints that hinder SMEs from accessing new opportunities and markets, as well mitigate the business pressures resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic.
E4Impact Foundation is the leading Alliance of Universities, Companies and Institutions to grow a new generation of African impact entrepreneurs and to promote Partnerships between Europe and Africa. Its main aim is to enhance the sustainable development of fast-growing economies by training impact entrepreneurs and scaling the growth of their businesses. E4Impact currently offers it programs in 12 African countries with a goal of training over 3,000 entrepreneurs, and establishing 1,000 new enterprises and thousands of new jobs in the formal economy.
IIA strives to create an empowering environment for SMEs through capacity building and enterprise development to reduce the potential impediment and fall of the startups as a result of economic and industry pitfalls. This is in line with the Sustainable Development Goals, with emphasis on SGD 1, to reduce poverty, through job creation, and prospering the economy.
Together, we can go far and scale the impact! #SMEGrowth #SMEResilience #Entrepreneurs4Impact
