THE FUTURE OF SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN KENYA

"What isn't working today? Why is mainstream development not working?"
For the last 50 years we have had community-based projects being driven by
governments and it hasn't worked particularly well in Kenya. We have had a
lot of problems with corruption, undemocratic governments, political
interference, mismanagement, overbearing bureaucracy. We have a
centralized and top-down approach to pushing development through which is
failing miserably.
There are frequent changes in power which, May good from a democratic
perspective, but from a policy perspective does not always work very well.
We have a very poorly motivated civil service and for all these reasons
social innovation and entrepreneurship has not thrived very well in Kenya
and its future is not that bright at all.

Kenya established the "Kenya Vision 2030" in 2008 which aims to transform
the nation into a newly industrializing middle-income country providing a
high quality life to all its citizens by the year 2030." This is a very
ambitious goal considering the political and economic burdens the country
is facing at the moment.
"The government has lost millions in yet another corruption scandal" has
been a familiar headline in the newspapers over the years. According to
Transparency International, Kenya is one of the most corrupt nations in
the world. Clearly our government has let us down in so many ways.
So what is the alternative vision? I think we have to look at social
enterprise models as a key driver for sustainable development in terms of
poverty reduction in Kenya.
Business entrepreneurs need to realize that "Development in Africa is not
dependent on the quality and drive of its governments. Neither on aid
projects, nor on the work of volunteers from the west. The future and the
well-being of this continent depends largely on the power of its own,
local entrepreneurs", Professor Walter Baets (Director of UCT Graduate
School of business in Cape Town South Africa). Governments try hard, but
sometimes lack the expertise to plan the building of local wealth, to
alleviate unemployment and to face social challenges. Their best bet is to
support the development of small business enterprises SME's that are the
real backbone of economy.

PATNERING WITH NGO's?
Social entrepreneurs bring ideas to the market that may otherwise not have
occurred to mainstream businesses that have very narrow, profit driven
priorities. And in the case of Kenya, as with most of Sub-Saharan Africa
(SSA), social investment can clearly ensure that economic development will
continue to grow over the years.
NGO's play a crucial role in fostering social innovation by working in
partnership with small businesses to help drive and strengthen
development, by sharing their knowledge, skills, processes and resources
that foster social change.
It is crucial that entrepreneurs partner with NGO's to create new market
based systems and financial vehicles that pursue social, environmental
and economic returns.
And of course, entrepreneurs as well as NGO's need the support of our
government to reform and simplify new and existing regulatory laws and
make the business climate more hospitable to formal enterprise. In
addition to this, the government needs to design opportunities to extract
bribes out of the process as well as organize and reform its taxation
system.
The future of social entrepreneurship in Kenya highly depends on its
partnership with NGO's and in some ways support from its government to
accelerate and to create a better environment for doing business.

Posted by Caroline Kiriga.