More than 100 informal traders and micro-enterprise starters from South Africa have started a five-day innovation and technology training in Kiambu county.
The programme, organised by the Wholesale and Retail Sector Education and Training Authority- a South African parastatal-, aims at helping them grow their businesses and increase their turnover.
The informal traders, who are among the contributors to the country’s economic growth, will undergo marketing, customer care, hygiene and food safety regulations training at Zetech University.
The programme also includes business skills training, mentorship and coaching.
The traders are expected to contribute to the broader economic sustainability of South Africa by growing small businesses to create jobs and strengthen rural and township economies.
South Africa's High Commissioner Mninwa Johannes Mahlangu said informal traders play a pivotal role in both Kenya and South Africa’s economies alongside regional economic integration.
“Informal cross-border trade contributes to regional integration from below because they move and distribute goods across borders. They contribute to development, poverty alleviation and attain food security,” Mahlangu said.
Under the South African Informal, Traders Development programme, the envoy said bilateral relations between South Africa and Kenya will be enhanced.
“It will give effect to the number of bilateral agreements and MoUs we have signed since the establishment of our bilateral relations. I would therefore like to wish this collaboration and indeed this partnership, every success and avail the South African High Commission to assist where we possibly can,” he said.
Higher Education and Research PS Beatrice Inyangala urged universities to work closely with corporates and government to have robust academic industry linkages locally and globally.
“I would want to acknowledge the steadfast and robust relations between our two countries. Kenya and South Africa share a lot in common from culture, history, people, business, and education, among others," she said.
"Recently, the five heads of government from the countries agreed on a raft of measures to enhance our diplomatic ties. I'm sure the delegates from South Africa did not apply for any visa to attend this training."
Inyangala said this is a demonstration of how the two governments remain cognisant of the need for free movement among their people, especially within the continent.
Zetech University vice chancellor Prof Njenga Munene and Kiambu Trade executive Nancy Gichung’wa said the new initiative will not only build the entrepreneurship skills capacity of the informal traders but will also broaden their focus on technology and innovation.
The two said with empowerment, the informal sector has the capacity to alleviate poverty by creating numerous job opportunities and in turn help grow economies to greater heights.
“Kenya is a blessed nation and we have come a long way to become a benchmarking country for South Africans. Their presence here shows the level with which we have embraced technology and innovation," Prof Munene said.
"As a university, we have not been left behind in providing solutions to challenges facing the informal sector as this is the starting point of a better economy.”
Gichung’wa said Kiambu county was set to receive and help investors grow their enterprises in various sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing and trading.
She urged locals and foreigners to grab the numerous opportunities existing in the vast county that she upheld has the capacity of solving challenges bedeviling the county and the country at large.
“Kiambu is open for business. We are ready to help our entrepreneurs go about their activities with ease and with less interruptions because we believe it is the informal sector that can help us create jobs, fight poverty and grow our economy,” Gichung’wa said.