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Kenya: KEPSA Recruits First Beneficiaries of Kenya-U.S. Trade Initiative

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Nairobi — The Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA), has announced the recruitment of the first cohort of twenty-five businesses in the Kenya-US Small and Medium Enterprises Trade Initiative.

The twenty-five local SMEs, looking to either scale up globally or grow exports to the US market, will be provided with sector-specific information on business opportunities in the US markets.

This is in addition to imports and exports business exchanges among other initiatives aimed at improving market access and linkages between SMEs in the two countries.

Speaking during the virtual launch Florie Liser, President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Corporate Council on Africa (CCA), introduced CCA as the leading US business association focused solely on promoting and facilitating US-Africa trade, investment, and commercial engagement.

“Our member companies are multinationals and SMEs active in Africa’s key growth sectors, including agribusiness, health, energy, ICT, trade, and finance. We serve as an intermediary between our member firms and essential U.S. and African government and private sector leaders to facilitate successful business initiatives in Africa,” she said.

Signed in New York on November 2021 by Carole Kariuki, CEO, KEPSA, and Florie Liser, President and CEO, Corporate Council on Africa (CCA), in the presence of President Uhuru Kenyatta, the Kenya-US SME Trade Initiative aims to support greater US-Kenya trade under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).

Second is the promotion of US-Kenya SME-driven trade and investment by capitalizing on and creating business relationships between Kenyan and US entrepreneurs as envisioned by the U.S. Prosper Africa Build Together campaign and initiative. Lastly, the initiative aims to develop a database and online market of trade opportunities that will allow Kenyan and US SMEs to connect with potential buyers, suppliers, financiers, investors, and other business partners.

Carole Kariuki, CEO, KEPSA said that the US-Kenya SME Trade Initiative provides a unique platform to facilitate US and Kenya SME partnerships, support women and youth-run Kenyan entrepreneurs as well as US women, minority, and diaspora owned businesses, and to help SMEs in both countries address the current challenges in accessing the two markets.

She added that among other things, KEPSA was pushing for establishment of the credit guarantee scheme to ease credit access for SMEs and the enactment of the movable property securities Act 2017 which enables SMEs to sue movable assets as collateral in their businesses.