Microsoft 4Afrika’s online hub for SMEs launches in Kenya

Microsoft 4Africa is launching its Biz4Africa in Kenya, which is their online hub that provides small and medium enterprises (SMEs) full access to local information and to promote their products and services.

This online portal, consists of a huge range of SME networks across Africa. It’s designed to enable a sustainable and connected community for entrepreneurs. The network also has valid job creations for those that are unemployed and to seeks to promote global competitiveness.

The country manager of Microsoft Kenya, Kunle Awosika, highlights the importance of the SME sector in boosting the Intra-African Trade. This enabled Harvard University to cite East Africa for surpassing the tipping point from exporting the raw materials.

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“The Biz4Afrika.co.ke online hub aims to meet the needs of every startup, small business and medium-sized enterprise at three entry points: the start, growth and acceleration phase, by aggregating freemium offers and relevant online services, complimented by valuable information, resources and learnings in one place,” Awosika states in a media release.

Darius Waithaka, head of SME Solution Center at Kenya Institute of Management, further says that the online hub is critical for bringing East Africa’s public and private sector together:

We are privileged to be associated with the Biz4Afrika online hub, which brings together East Africa’s public and private sector to play an important role in creating a conducive environment and harmonising policies that encourage the growth of the SME sector, providing healthy competitiveness to ensure quality and affordable access to markets, technologies, financial services among others, and promoting and enabling smooth cross-border trade amongst the traders.

Microsoft has launched several programmes targeted towards the development of SMEs across the continent including BizSpark, an ecommerce portal, and Africa’s first Intellectual Property Hub in Kenya to help entrepreneurs protect and monetise their innovations.