Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are rooting for a level playing ground in the country to pull the sector out of challenges such as high costs and limited access to funding.

At a two-day day SME conference and exposition that concludes today in Nairobi, key SME players said a quick resolution to such challenges would help small firms transition into established entities.

Africa will mature by giving priority to its own citizens, if it takes advantage of its millennials, who are the most hopeful generation across the world.

Speaking during a panel discussion at the just-concluded Kusi Ideas Festival at Intare Arena in Kigali, Rwanda, Mukhisa Kituyi, the secretary-general of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, said the continent currently has a generation of young people who are more interested in collaboration than competition.

The Kisumu County government has signed a partnership agreement with the Nation Media Group to support the upcoming Kusi Ideas Festival scheduled for December 8 and 9 in Kigali, Rwanda.

This year’s Kusi Ideas Festival officially kicked off this morning at the Intare Conference arena in Kigali, Rwanda, in what promises to be an illuminating discussion about the future of the continent.

The Festival, organised by Nation Media Group (NMG), brings together various stakeholders and leaders led by Rwandan President Paul Kagame, Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi, and African Union Infrastructure Envoy Raila Odinga, among other dignitaries.