EDITORIAL: Save small businesses from imminent collapse

Friday, May 29, 2020 0:01

By EDITORIAL

The Central Bank of Kenya.

Big businesses are likely to survive the Covid-19 pandemic, but small businesses that are critical to this economy will succumb.

Small and medium-sized enterprises had employed 15.05 million Kenyans at the end of last year, according to data by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, making them the biggest employer.

A survey conducted by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) on the impact of Covid-19 on households and individuals showed that about a third (30.5 percent) of Kenyans struggled to pay rent in April.

The Kenya Private Sector Alliance (Kepsa), in a report released early this month, said that 81 percent of enterprises across all sectors have been impacted by Covid-19, calling for fast injection of funds to help them remain afloat.