The official 10Th World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Conference started in Nairobi, Kenya on Tuesday, 15 December 2015.

Lately, many Kenyans have turned to small business to make ends meet and the World Trade Organisation (WTO) conference could not have come at a better time.

The Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Canadian Minister of International Trade, together with the Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, Minister of International Development and La Francophonie, today announced funding that will help Kenya’s poorest and most vulnerable people benefit from the country’s growing resource-based economy. Canada is contributing $19.5 million to the project over seven years, until 2021.

Minister Freeland made the announcement on the margins of the World Trade Organization’s 10th Ministerial Conference in Nairobi.

The Government of Canada is contributing the funding to the Mennonite Economic Development Associates’ Equitable Prosperity Through Private Sector Development project, which focuses on reducing poverty in Kenya’s most marginalized regions by providing training, expertise and mentoring to small-business owners, especially women and youth.

Canada’s contribution will assist small-business entrepreneurs to set up producer associations to market and sell their products and will help them access financing to operate and expand their businesses.
It is anticipated that the project will train 20,000 entrepreneurs in managing successful businesses and increase the profits of 250 small and medium-sized enterprises.

“Canada recognizes that small-business owners in developing countries are key drivers of economic growth and poverty reduction. By equipping Kenyan entrepreneurs, especially women and youth, with tools to start and grow their businesses, we are supporting their ability to benefit from economic growth and bring about positive change in their homes and communities.”
– Chrystia Freeland, Minister of International Trade

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