County Government of Laikipia

On Wednesday, 29 ^th September 2021, Governor Ndiritu Muriithi was an invited key speaker at the Mount Kenya Foundation Luncheon on charting the way forward for the regional outlook with the upcoming political alignments and arrangements.

In terms of region interests, he pointed out that the CEREB region economy is far bigger than that of 34 African countries. As such intra trade in the region is key and that's why as Governors they are focused on ease of doing business and negotiating trade protocols to grow businesses and enterprises.

Businesses across the country need support to survive the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. Laikipia is offering a Kshs 3.3 billion economic stimulus fund for assisting businesses to emerge from the debilitating effects of Covid-19 and the attendant economic slowdown. Businesses can borrow up to KShs 4 million with repayment of 7%. It is a government negotiation with leading banks.

Governor Muriithi proposed that the national government replicate the model and have a Kshs 200 billion stimulus fund which would go a long way in injecting MSMEs with the much-needed resources to help them grow.

Invoice discounting is another key initiative. It assists contractors to access at least 80% of their money pending payment. This keeps contractors resourced to be able to progress with their workflow.

The Laikipia Innovation and Enterprise Development Programme is another key area for phenomenal economic growth. This involves a deliberate effort to map, hand-hold and support those in the innovative field to make sure that their enterprises grow into bankable projects that can be scaled up. A good example is the BJ 50 four-wheeler tuk tuk.