NAIROBI, Kenya, April 25 – Fast-moving consumer goods company Unilever plans to invest Sh600 million to support small and medium-sized enterprises.
Dubbed ‘Emerge Accelerator’, the program also targets women and people living with disabilities.
Besides funding, the initiative also seeks to provide them with business skills and capacity building.
It will be implemented in partnership with the SME Support Center, which mainly offers technical support on strategy and operations programs to SMEs.
“We want to actively make our supply chain more diverse by reaching out to people and groups that are usually under-represented,” said Luck Ochieng, Unilever Kenya managing director.
The two firms will also leverage their strengths and expertise to deliver training on entrepreneurship, financial literacy, e-commerce, business mentorship, and coaching to participants.
“We are deeply passionate about developing businesses, and we recognize the need for being proactive in ensuring present and future success “said SME Support System CEO Linda Onyango.
Onyango added that they are committed to building long-term competitiveness and contributing to the county’s GDP through the program.
