Has the Kenyan Government been Supportive of Entrepreneurs?

The answer is ‘no’. The government of Kenya has not been willing to support entrepreneurs and most of them have been frustrated into giving up along the way. Dreams have been killed and ideas have been left to rot with no one willing to hold the hand of entrepreneurs towards the path of success.

One of the major challenge that entrepreneurs face in Kenya is that of finances. Most of the entrepreneurs have ideas but lack the much needed funds to drive their ideas. This has often seen them failing even to start. Most have given up on their ideas or some, their ideas have been taken over by others who, initially had no ideas but had money.

The government of Kenya has killed many entrepreneurship ideas by failing to contain corruption. Corruption is deeply rooted in many governmental sectors. The government has often come up with good initiatives to support the young generations which produces intelligent entrepreneurs but corruption has often been standing on the way.

In the year 2014, the government of Kenya established the Youth Fund. This was a very good initiative that was aimed and empowering the youth, especially entrepreneurs by providing them with funds to set up their projects. Thousands of youth were encouraged to apply for the funds from the Youth Fund. Thousands applied and all ended at the application stage. No one ever saw the funds. People who were put in charge of the fund stole everything. More than 400 million shillings were looted and up to now, no one has been prosecuted concerning the same. Those who hoped to initiate their projects through the use of the funds from the Youth Fund remained disappointed.

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Three years ago, the government of Kenya revived the National Youth Service. This was also a very good initiative. It was aimed at equipping the young men and women of the republic of Kenya with the much needed skills in almost every field. The young people were to be prepared to face the changing economic world with new fresh ideas in terms of entrepreneurship and even with some paramilitary skills. Billions of shillings were pumped into the project. Young men and women who went through the training, most of them are a disappointed lot. Those who were put in charge of the projects saw an opportunity to steal. Almost all the funds were stolen. It is said that more than one billion shillings were stolen and up to the time of writing this piece, nobody has been prosecuted concerning the same.

The government has also laid down policies and rules that have hindered most entrepreneurs from the access of funds in most of the financial institutions. Most banks in Kenya often demand for collateral from those seeking business financial assistance from them. Things such as title deeds, car log books or pay slips are often demanded by banks. Most entrepreneurs are young people fresh out of college with no collateral whatsoever. Whenever such things are demanded from financial institutions, most of them often give up and opt for other things away from entrepreneurship. To protect startups, the government should have come up with some policies about financial institutions that would guide them concerning the helping of entrepreneurs.

In 2015, Global Entrepreneurship Summit was held in Nairobi Kenya. President Barack Obama of the United States of America attended the event. This was an event that attracted thousands of entrepreneurs from around the world. Most entrepreneurs in Kenya smiled. They knew that their troubles were now over as the world had come to their aid. They believed that international organizations will support their ideas and businesses and make them grow further. America, through President Obama promised to help entrepreneurs by funding them. It is said that funds were released but entrepreneurs have never seen them. Everything died after the Global Entrepreneurship Summit. The government never followed up to see any progress that had been made and whether there was any impact that had been created with the holding of the summit in the country.

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However, the government of the Republic of Kenya has not failed completely in supporting entrepreneurs. It has played a role in setting up initiatives that are aimed at profiting entrepreneurs. It has only failed to follow up on those initiatives and see if they are working. The government has also failed to fight corruption, a major threat to the survival of entrepreneurship in this country.