- 57 per cent of closed businesses are solely owned by women.
- The other nine per cent are female-male joint ownerships.
Image: WILFRED NYANGARESI
Over 400 Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) are closed annually in Kenya, this is according to women groups championing their economic empowerment.
The groups, attending the Women Economic Forum 2023, said that 71 per cent of these closures occur within the first three years of operations.
"About 66 per cent of the closed businesses are owned by women of which 57 per cent are solely owned by women and nine per cent are female-male joint ownerships," they said.
The Women Economic Forum 2023 was organised by the Community Advocacy and Awareness (CRAWN) Trust in partnership with the Ministry of Public Service Gender and Affirmative Action.
CRAWN Trust executive director Daisy Amdany said that the event originated from the need to create a national platform to engage in high-level dialogues on women's economic empowerment.
"This is due to the challenges that women face in contributing to the economy which is both structural and socio-economic," she said.
The forum found that Agriculture accounts for 70 per cent of overall employment in the informal sector and is practised by 69 per cent of families.
Women, they said, provide 80 per cent of food production but only receive just seven per cent of agricultural extension assistance.
The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics Survey of 2019 showed that women were underrepresented in wage employment as well.
They comprise slightly above a third (37 per cent) compared to agriculture and the services economy.
"We want to see after this forum, that the Government intervenes in enhancing the participation and contribution of women to the economy, particularly those operating within the forgotten middle," Amdany said.