Kenya to share cooperative, small business lessons with Botswana

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Kenya and Botswana are exploring ways to strengthen cooperatives and small businesses, with Botswana looking to Kenya for lessons on developing the sectors.

Botswana Vice President Ndaba Nkoisinathi Gaolathe visited Kenya on Wednesday, October 7, for a benchmarking mission focused on cooperatives and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

Gaolathe met Cooperatives Cabinet Secretary Wyclif Oparanya and Principal Secretary for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Susan Mang’eni as the two countries compared policies and systems for supporting businesses.

The talks focused on cooperative governance, access to finance and markets, entrepreneurship and the use of technology to improve the competitiveness of small businesses.

Botswana will draw lessons from Kenya’s experience as it advances reforms and new initiatives in cooperatives and MSMEs.

The two countries also agreed to continue technical exchanges and share knowledge on cooperative and enterprise development.

The talks examined ways to strengthen links between government agencies, cooperatives, financial institutions and private businesses to improve access to finance, markets and investment.

Kenya’s cooperative movement mobilises savings and helps members access finance, while MSMEs support enterprise development and provide jobs.

The two countries will explore structured knowledge-sharing and technical cooperation, including the exchange of innovations and practices in cooperative and MSME development.

The cooperation is aimed at expanding opportunities for entrepreneurs and businesses while supporting job creation in both countries.