KISUMU, Kenya, July 30 –The 10th edition of the Grow with Safaricom Business forum, currently held at the Mamboleo stadium in Kisumu, has attracted over 150 businesses from the Greater Western region.
This is a follow-up to a similar forum which was successfully held in November last year.
The forum which is taking place as part of the M-PESA Sokoni festival, is designed to empower entrepreneurs with the knowledge and skills that can help them to sustainably accelerate their growth.
Safaricom PLC’s Acting Chief Enterprise Business Officer, Franklin Okata, said that they support businesses through four key pillars- Connect, Enable, Protect, and Transform.
This, he emphasised, is in line with Safaricom’s vision to be Africa’s Leading Purpose-led technology company by 2030.
“Through the Grow with Safaricom Business forum, we are enabling and transforming businesses nationwide. We believe that the forum will enable MSMEs to sustainably accelerate their growth,” Okata said.
One of the participants, Michael Otieno, Founder of Takawiri Craft, a social enterprise that produces paper from water hyacinth, says the forum will enable him to gain insights on how to make his business financially sustainable.
“I work with fishermen along the shores of Lake Victoria to collect and transport the hyacinth to the workshop where we convert the weed into pulp to make paper. We then produce book covers, notebooks, cards, and envelopes. I, however, need to make my business more tenable,” he says.
Since its inception in March last year, the forum has reached over 1200 businesses physically in the Coast, Nairobi, Rift, Mt. Kenya and Greater Western regions.
The forum aims to empower entrepreneurs with the knowledge and skills that can help them to sustainably accelerate their growth.
