Briefing Paper

Integrating SMEs in the Devolved Government System; Policy Options for Institutional and Regulatory Framework in Kenya

“Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are an important sub-sector for the Kenyan economy. It employs about 85 percent of the Kenyan workforce (about 7.5 million Kenyans
of the country’s total employment). The current constitution provides a new window of opportunity to address SME-related issues through regulatory and institutional framework under the devolved government system, as well as the new SME Act. This study has assessed the existing and potential institutional and regulatory challenges, which might be a bottleneck to the revitalization of SMEs at the county level. Participatory Competitive Advantage (PACA) methodology has been adopted to collect the primary data in Homabay, Kwale, Kiambu and Bomet counties to inform the analysis.”