The Ministry of Trade and Industrialisation has launched a new Biashara Centre in Eldoret housed at Kenya Bureau of Standards North Rift Regional headquarters.
This is a one-stop solution that aims to boost the growth of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises in the region.
The new centre will provide essential business and trade services such as registration of tax compliance, support MSMEs with loans, support registration of branding, training of MSMEs on production, certification of products, accreditation of systems, promoting, regulating and developing MSMEs under one roof.
“We expect that the centre will promote inclusive economic transformation by creating economic hubs that enable youth, women, and persons with disability to ably participate in economic activities and contribute to the attainment of Vision 2030,” Kebs managing director Bernard Njiraini said.
Approximately 1,200 large firms and over 300 MSMEs from Uasin Gishu, Nandi, Baringo, Elgeyo Marakwet, West Pokot, Turkana, Bungoma and Trans Nzoia counties expected to benefit from the new facility.
Government agencies already set up at the centre include Kenya Accreditation Service, Kenya Industrial Property Institute, Kenya Industrial Estates, Kenya Revenue Authority, Numerical Machining Complex (NMC), Kenya Industrial and Development Institute, Micro and Small Enterprises Authority (MSEA), among others.
The centre also houses modern testing and calibration facilities which is equipped with five laboratories including Food and Agriculture, Microbiology, Organic and Inorganic Chemistry, Instrumentation and Metrology that will offer testing and calibration services to the North Rift region customers as opposed to sending samples to Nairobi as previously done.
Other regional facilities that offer testing and calibration services include Coast (Mombasa) and Lake (Kisumu).
There are plans to expand to the regions of Mount Kenya (Nyeri) and South Rift (Nakuru).
