Kenya: Coca-Cola Unveils Initiative to Empower Women Entrepreneurs

By Staff Writer

NAIROBI –Coca-Cola Central East & West Africa Friday announced the launch of a unique, elaborate partnership with non-profit TechnoServe seeking to promote women empowerment in the Kenya.

 Under the programme dubbed Young Women in Enterprise, Coca-Cola and its local bottling partner, Nairobi Bottlers Ltd will offer young women an opportunity to raise seed capital and grow their business by availing beverage for sale and offering marketing support in their  outlets. TechnoServe, on its part, will train the women and ensure they adhere to important business principles including proper record keeping as well as marketing co-ordination.

 Initially, the programme will kick off on a pilot phase involving 100 young women entrepreneurs from Nairobi’s Kawangware and Mathare slums but it is envisioned that this will be scaled up into a robust nationwide economic empowerment initiative. The programme is part of The Coca-Cola Company’s 5 BY 20 initiative, a broad global commitment by the Company to economically empower millions of women entrepreneurs across its system.  By 2020, Coca-Cola hopes to have provided 5 million women with tools and skills they need to run thriving businesses.

 Speaking during the launch of the programme, Dr. Susan Mboya – Kidero, Coca-Cola’s Group Director for Women’s Economic Empowerment in Eurasia & Africa said the partnership with TechnoServe is aimed at enabling the empowerment of women entrepreneurs by building upon the strengths of both organizations.

 “Coca-Cola has been at the forefront of empowering women economically over the years. Through this programme, we plan to address some of the barriers that women entrepreneurs commonly face by providing first and foremost, access to retail and retail assets and also access to business skills training, financial services and support networks of peers and mentors,” said Dr Mboya who until her current posting was the General Manager for Coca-Cola South Africa, where she set up several women-run entrepreneurships - mostly those doing business at the bottom of the pyramid.

 The Young Women in Enterprise Programme is being piloted in Kenya with the intention of expanding to other African countries over time. The company is keen to develop and implement initiatives that will help break down barriers for women entrepreneurs in the small businesses that the Coca-Cola system traditionally supports including fruit farmers, retailers, recycling collectors and artisans.

 The performance of the pilot phase will be evaluated after three months and again after six months and based on the outcome, Coca-Cola and TechnoServe will determine the level at which they need to modify, refine and/or expand it to more young women across the country. TechnoServe has a proven track record of helping entrepreneurial men and women especially in poor areas of the developing world to build businesses that create income, opportunity and economic growth.

 The project seeks to bridge the gap in income-generating opportunities among young women by offering a rewarding business opportunity. According to the Kenya’s Population Census conducted in 2009, women in the 16-24 age bracket, who account for 22 per cent of the Kenyan population, are most affected by unemployment. Coca-Cola’s 5x20 commitment together with TechnoServe hopes to correct this economic problem through the Young Women in Enterprise programme.  Importantly, the project offers a shot in the arm for one of Kenya’s most important population segments, and a significant potential trickle-down effect on the economy.