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{
    "id": 1089381,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1089381/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 281,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. (Prof.) Kindiki",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1046,
        "legal_name": "Kithure Kindiki",
        "slug": "kithure-kindiki"
    },
    "content": "of two very important sectors of the business community. One is the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and secondly the Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs). Sometimes we do not appreciate the difference between the SMEs and MSEs, which are lower level kind of businesses that fall very well in this category of start-ups. This Bill recognizes the role of the national and county governments as it should. It could be strengthened by recognizing universities. Of course, there is a mention of academic sector, but the role of universities and the research institutions in the realization of the objectives of this Bill cannot be over-emphasized. This is the only country where we have some of the finest professors in the world in various disciplines such as medicine, science, technology, business, name it. Unfortunately, there is very little intellectual property innovation associated with the academia in this country. Why? There is no funding for research and, therefore, most of our senior and most experienced professors are wasting their time teaching. I am not saying teaching is not a good thing, but it can be done even by a tutorial fellow or graduate assistant. In the end we are regurgitating old knowledge and hoping that we can change this country using the economics of Adam Smith whose circumstances do not apply to our situation today. The need for universities, technical and research institutions in incubating this new knowledge and start-ups needs to be strengthened within this Bill. I see there is an attempt to create incentives for start-ups such as credit guarantees, training and capacity building, et cet e ra. I would be happier if this Bill over and above these very important incentives was able to obligate both national and county governments to provide non- repayable grants for start-ups rather than credit. This is because sometimes a credit seems to tie start-ups and they end up having stunted growth as opposed to one-off non-refundable grant or in the alternative, a grant which accompanied with a repayment holiday long enough to allow the start-up to pick up and repay. I say so because of the experience we have had with the university education. The Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) has succeeded in helping many students to access university education. However, many of the students have found themselves in the Credit Reference Bureaus (CRBs) because they do not have jobs and cannot repay. Therefore, some form of postponed repayment period of even making it a grant so long as it is contributing to the growth of industry would be appropriate for start-ups especially for new graduates. I say so because the last six years this country has seen a huge revival in technical education through establishment of nearly 200 technical training institutes. Many of the graduates of these institutes according to research have already graduated because the courses are short term. Some of them are one year, six months or even one and a half years. They are already in the market. Anecdotal evidence suggests that there is enough market for these skills. These skills have a high demand in the market. What the graduates of the technical and vocational training programmes are missing are the tools."
}