The MSME (micro, small and medium enterprises) competitiveness project is a joint partnership program between the IDA, IFC and other bilateral donors. The program aims to increase productivity and employment amongst MSME’s owners. Its functions are based on three mutually reinforcing components: providing access to finance, improving the business environment and strengthening enterprise skills and market linkages. An important subcomponent of the MSME PROJECT is the GBSN PROJECT (global business school network) now (MERC) Management Education and Research Consortium (MERC), this project, is an initiative between the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MOTI), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), and three Kenyan universities (specifically their business schools) – Strathmore University, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology and Kenyatta University. MERC is a non-profit entity whose primary focus is on improving opportunities and training for owners of MSME’s by facilitating coordination with the three Kenyan business schools.
Their goal is to strengthen the schools’ curriculum and build their capacity to provide better business education through integrating local case examples when training upcoming entrepreneurs in their faculty. The business schools are expected to develop short training courses for managers of MSME’s who do not have the time and/ or resources to enroll as business students.
Although the three universities are part of this project, they implement the project independent of each other. The MERC coordinating office and the Project Management Contractor (PriceWaterhouseCoopers) are responsible for ensuring that the business schools are resourced accordingly and that they meet their obligations to the project.
