Lobby to train women on e-business

Traders hawking pots in Mumias town on June 3, 2017. Women sells big pots between 250 Shillings to three hundred while smalls ones goes at 200 shillings. As political temperatures rise up, traders have taken business to political rallies where they can access customers easily so that they can sell their products eventually to support their families. This was a scenario at Jubilee rally in Mumias town where Kakamega Senatorial aspirant Stanley Livondo and Mumias West Mp aspirant Mohammed Rashid was addressing a jubilee rally. BY BENJAMIN SAKWA

More than 1,000 female entrepreneurs between the ages of 18-35 years will be trained on new business management skills through social media.

The Boost Your Business Initiative, by African Centre for Women Information and Communications Technology (Acwict) and Facebook, targets women in Nairobi, Kisumu, Nakuru, and Mombasa counties.

The initiative is a pilot programme aimed at giving young female entrepreneurs an opportunity to gain the most up-to-date tools, insights, and best business practices on the Facebook and Instagram platforms.

Acwict Executive Director Constantine Obuya said the drive aims to improve the outreach of women business enterprises both in urban and peri-urban areas. It is estimated that there are about nine million social media users in Kenya alone, with Facebook commanding 6.8 million active users every month.

“The training will mix Facebook’s curriculum with integrated interpersonal interaction activities to enhance understanding of the skills learnt,” said Ms Obuya.

It is expected that all beneficiaries of the initiative will have both Facebook and Instagram business pages to increase visibility.