According to a survey carried out by Safaricom Business on 181,000 businesses spread across 21 counties. Lack of capital, cash flow management and an inability to market products and services are some of the key challenges faced by SME’s. Supplementing the survey, a Ready Business Index taken by 1,200 SMEs places the level of ICT adoption by businesses in the country at a score of 54 out of 100. Firms in IT and communication, those in import and export industry as well as businesses offering professional services lead in adoption of technology while those in the wholesale and retail, hospitality and agribusiness firms have lower adoption rates.
The Ready Business Index is a simple test that is designed to help businesses understand whether they are fully taking advantage of technology in their business processes. 72 percent of respondents on the Ready Business Index are small enterprises with less than 5 employees, with majority of the respondents operating in the services, IT and communication, wholesale and retail, transport and logistics, and hospitality sectors. 46% of businesses have deployed Lipa Na M-PESA and other cashless payment services, especially those in hospitality, energy and retail sectors. Firms operating in the agribusiness, import/export and media industries exhibit low uptake of cashless payments. Only 37% of respondents had deployed websites, with those in the financial sector, IT and communication and service sectors having comparatively higher deployment rates. Firms in wholesale and retail, hospitality and agribusiness sectors have low web presence, with only 2% of agribusiness firms having any web presence.
Rita Okuthe Director, Safaricom Business had this to say, “Kenya’s economy data shows SMEs make up 99% of businesses in Kenya, employing 75% of the total labour force, yet contribute only 18% to our Gross Domestic Product. Safaricom Business has therefore developed the Ready Business platform to help improve the productivity of these firms by enabling staff work more efficiently and the business meet their unique customer needs.”
The Ready Business product combines mobile, wireless, money transfer and cloud services tools which can aid a business become successful.