I work with SME's...the real ones...Not those ones of top 100 of something or another.

Since Covid started...95% of these businesses have died. As in the young lady who's my neighbour who got small contracts to supply lunch to a few bankers, is gone. She couldn't pay her rent, she couldn't pay for bus fair...Actually had to give her Noah back to the bank after they came with 5 menacing men.

I didn't want to post this in the green section. Coz we know what happens there.

Yes, I hate Trump and won't vote for him even this time.

But, I'm here now.

Are we sooooo poor we can't think about saving our SME's?

SME's in Kenya employ 90% of the work force in this country.

I was talking to a few GM's last week and they've had to cut their wage bill by half TWICE.

As in the guy who was earning 60k got 30k then 15k.

Coz of Covid. Companies now have come to work 2 weeks then another team comes to work the next 2 weeks.

I have not a word from the gov't led by Uhuru Kenyatta. In fact he's a "bubu" wa nyumbani about this.

I have heard not a word fron Raila...

I have not a word from Ruto...

I wonder.

Coz, I'll confess. I don't like Trump but...there was a fund to keep my kasmall business in Massachussets paying for employees.

I don't like Boris, but there was a small business fund even now going.

How is a small business supposed to survive in Kenya? You would have expected this gov't to ask mortgage companies not to ask for their mortgages back. And give them a fund to deal with that. Extend their taxes or something.

You would have expected this gov't to delay tax payments and reduce electricity and fuel costs.

Nope...

All they did was say, we shall arrest you without a mask.

I keep on telling Murchr.

Until we get people who care about small businesses in this country we shall be f***ed.

I'm writing this for some of the friends I've met on Wazua for years, who's life has been f***ed up.

Covid did not kill the economy...The gov't of Kenya did.

Ni hayo tu.

Tell me how it comes to the SME and I promise you I'll vote for Ruto.

I agree SME are really hurting. But SME are also hurting because they are informal. How will the Government identify an informal SME vs briefcase Alma1?

There are also very many SME that have been doing booming business. Try getting Terrazo fundis in Nairobi for the past 3 months, utajua haujui. Alot of constructions SMEs are doing well.

Anyway what would you want the Government to do? Give out money?

Correct. Remember how they shtuad the world that tens of millions would die in a few months? Wapi. It was all lies. A paltry 700 have died in Kenya in 6 months. Meaning you have more chance of dying from an accident like a coconut falling on your head than this covid ordinary homa hoax. LIFT ALL LOCKDOWNS YESTERDAY!!!

CHINA we should look at what china is doing to boast local business
last time I was there I learnt something, Govt has the money, see all the city renewals and govt housing low cost housing etc it should be done by kenya, in china a housing project goes and buys sand from that mtaani sand guy they need so much that the guy needs to find akina mwangi and maina trucks to go to mwingi to kiokos sand farm to suppy the project.

Then they go to a door guy at gikomba and tell him to supply doors for 10 floors of 5 three bedroom units thats like 300 doors, this goes on and it's broken down such that a guy with a small village door hinge factory is asked to supply 10,000 hinges, another is asked to make 1 million screws (not import).
I met newly minted millionaires from these kind of projects in china, what if SAJ ceramics was to supply all tiles for the nairobi and mombasa county gov projects, what if devki and doshi were to supply all hardware.
such action are felt upto village level,one question I always ask is why we need loans to do roads, when we have engineers, we have cement, we have materials, the labour is ours, we have idle NYS graduates, we even have a KDF engineering dept sitting idle, plus all the machinery sitting at NYS muthaiga and other areas.

Well let me thank you for the job which you did for me.
Save for pombe you are very good at your job- the traffic is amazing,needed another one up but you have been mia.Look for me.It's almost ready.

On this.. I think the service industry has suffered the most since it's dependent on people's actual presence to function.
But this should act as an eye opener.Think outside the box, take advantage of the present situation, change the way and quantities that you supply to fit in with the market trend. Problem is applying the same costs to a dying or fading market.
Many of us are also trained to think in a certain way only thus limiting ourselves.
Ni Mungu tu.