Funding small, medium-sized manufacturing firms will spur economic growth
Workers at a Nairobi- based textile factory. Kenya has launched a trading board on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that opens new funding opportunities for the growing pool of small and medium sized businesses.
Job creation is back in the news, thanks to the release of the Economic Survey 2022, which shows a robust gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 7.5 per cent in 2021. Critics have pointed out, however, that the growth did not create many formal sector jobs nor grow individual incomes substantially. Rather, corporate profits rebounded and the stock of public assets grew commendably.
Of the 926,1000 new jobs reported in 2021, only 172,300 or 19 per cent were in the modern or formal sector. Annual average earnings per employee increased by 2.3 per cent compared to inflation, which averaged 6.1 per cent.
