Caption: Judy Kageni, a dairy farmer in Tigoni, who is a beneficiary of the WIDU program
For many entrepreneurs, the pandemic has hit hard and had ripple effects on the longevity of businesses, however, thanks to our partnership with WIDU we have been able to provide entrepreneurial support.WIDU Africa is an online platform that aims to support entrepreneurship in Africa.
WIDU is an initiative of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), implemented by the Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). The goal of this partnership is to create new jobs, increased income and better economic perspectives for participating African countries.
So far the project has seen 42 entrepreneurs spread across the country benefit from the 57 coaching visits that have been conducted. The project was begun in November 2020 and was scheduled for a 6-month duration and targetted 300 coaching visits.
As the implementing partner for the project, the ASSEK Secretariat has been able to carry out 4 site visits of beneficiaries of the program, with the latest site visit has been in the Karen Langata area where the entrepreneur is involved in fish retail. The entrepreneur applied for the Corona Business Grant and received funds that enabled her to purchase a refrigerator, cutlery and a commercial gas pressure fryer for cooking the fish. Thanks to the grant she has seen her sales improve greatly although with the COVID 19 pandemic the sales have not been steady but she has managed to remain afloat.
Prior to this site visit, we were able to visit another WIDU beneficiary involved in dairy farming in Rironi Tilisi City Tigoni. The entrepreneur similarly applied for the Corona Business Grant and received funds that enabled her to renovate the dairy shed and acquire two cows. Each cow produces 25 litres of milk which sells to the local dairy plant. She has also employed one employee to help her with the farmwork.
Our other site visits were with an entrepreneur in Banana Limuru where the entrepreneur was involved in greenhouse farming of red capsicums while our second visit was in Kikuyu where the entrepreneur owned a Multimedia production firm.
