Lead image for What women-owned enterprises need more than grants to grow.
Across Kenya, there are many organisations investing significantly in women micro-entrepreneurs through grants, training, financial products, business development and market access initiatives.
Individually, these interventions achieve what they set out to do. Yet, they are often designed and delivered independently, each addressing a specific constraint, rather than forming part of a connected ecosystem that supports an entrepreneur's long-term growth.
MSMEs are central to Kenya’s economy. According to Kenya’s 2025 Economic Survey, about 90 percent; 782,300 new jobs created in 2024 were in the informal sector, where MSMEs predominate. When women-owned micro-enterprises grow, they create employment, strengthen local supply chains and provide more reliable incomes for families.
A grant can help a woman buy initial equipment. Training can build her skills.
A loan can help her increase stock and meet growing demand. But what happens when the grant ends and the business needs working capital, a bigger market or another form of support to take the next step?
Enterprise growth rarely depends on a single intervention. Micro-entrepreneurs need clear pathways to access the right support from one stage of growth to the next.
The first pathway is capital. Micro-enterprises need different forms of finance at different stages, and those needs change as a business grows.
Take a woman producing peanut butter from her kitchen. She may start with a small grant to buy basic equipment, improve packaging, draw on working capital to fulfil larger orders and later require asset finance for commercial processing equipment. Eventually, the business may qualify for commercial debt or other growth finance instruments.